NEW DELHI — India and Pakistan took a “first step” toward rebuilding confidence on Thursday after a wide-ranging meeting between high-level diplomats of both countries that included discussions on terrorism, the Mumbai attacks, the disputed border region of Kashmir and competing water claims.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao of India described the meeting with her Pakistani counterpart, Salman Bashir, as a useful discussion, saying it would be premature to restart broader bilateral discussions but adding that the two sides had agreed to keep talking informally.

“We have set out to take a first step toward rebuilding trust, and I believe my meeting with the Pakistan foreign secretary has constituted that first step,” Ms. Rao said. “We have agreed to remain in touch.”

Few analysts had expected any breakthroughs from the meeting, which had been framed as a small step in restarting diplomacy between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

India broke off the formal “composite dialogue” after the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, which left at least 163 people dead. For months, India refused to resume dialogue on the grounds that Pakistan was not aggressively pursuing those responsible for the attacks and that it had done too little to confront domestic terrorist groups that focus on India.

In her comments, Ms. Rao said she restated Indian concerns about terrorist groups operating inside Pakistan, presenting three dossiers of new information related to the Mumbai attacks.

She also prodded Pakistan to take action against Hafiz Saeed, the leader of an Islamic charity closely linked to the banned militant group Lakshar-e-Taiba, which has been accused of orchestrating the Mumbai assault.

At his own news conference, Mr. Bashir said that Pakistan was aggressively prosecuting several individuals implicated in the attacks, but that a Pakistani court had found insufficient evidence against Mr. Saeed. Mr. Bashir added, “Hafiz Saeed does not speak for the people of Pakistan.”

Mr. Bashir expressed exasperation with Indian depictions of Pakistan as an “epicenter” for breeding terrorism, describing his country instead as a victim of terrorist groups. He said 5,366 Pakistani civilians had died in terrorism attacks since 2008, adding that Pakistan has cooperated in recent American antiterrorism efforts. “We don’t like to be sermoned on the issue of terrorism,” he told reporters. “We are doing our very best. Please understand. Please look at this thing in a more objective manner.”

While acknowledging that terrorism was a major issue between the nations, Mr. Bashir described the longstanding territorial disputes in Kashmir as the “core issue.”

The meeting represented a political gamble for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, who has searched for a way to bring the two countries back to the negotiating table, despite stiff political resistance at home.

Analysts say Mr. Singh pushed forward the meeting partly because of the judgment that not talking had failed to bring any progress or results.

In 2007, Mr. Singh and President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan came close to an agreement on Kashmir during secret talks, but that deal was suspended when Mr. Musharraf lost power.

Any easing of tensions between the countries would be a boon to the Obama administration, which has been frustrated by the reluctance of the Pakistani military to shift forces away from its border with India in order to fight Taliban insurgents and also better secure its western border with Afghanistan.

Asked whether a road map for future talks had been agreed upon, Ms. Rao said: “We are not talking about road maps here. We are talking about staying in touch.”