NEW DELHI, 20 June 2004 — Rivals India and Pakistan began talks yesterday on reducing the risk of nuclear confrontation in South Asia for the first time since they tested atomic devices in 1998 and two years after they almost went to war over Kashmir.
A Pakistani delegation led by Tariq Usman Haider and an Indian team headed by Sheel Kant Sharma met for the first round of talks in New Delhi, a joint statement said. A second round is slated for today. The talks “were held in a cordial and constructive atmosphere.... Both sides approached the talks in a positive framework, aimed at taking the process forward, and making them result oriented,” the statement added.
The two sides had “identified areas of convergence.... They also exchanged views on their respective security concepts and nuclear doctrines and agreed to elaborate and work towards the confidence-building measures,” the statement said.
Later the delegation made “courtesy calls” on Foreign Minister Natwar Singh, Foreign Secretary Shashank and National Security Adviser J.N. Dixit, Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told a news conference. The top officials “welcomed them and encouraged the delegation to continue their work in a result-oriented framework,” Sarna added. India’s stated nuclear policy is not to strike first with nuclear weapons, but Pakistan, worried about India’s growing conventional military superiority, has made no such pledge.
Tensions over Kashmir, especially fighting in the summer of 1999 in the disputed region’s Kargil area, have delayed nuclear risk reduction talks for six years.
Many observers believed the subcontinent was on the verge of nuclear conflict when the two sides came close to their fourth war two years ago after an attack on the Indian Parliament by gunmen New Delhi said were sponsored by Islamabad.
The former government of Hindu fundamentalist Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee conducted nuclear weapons tests in May 1998, prompting Pakistan to carry out tit-for-tat tests a few days later which drew a slew of US-led sanctions against both countries.
Both countries have refused to endorse nuclear non-proliferation treaties.
Yesterday’s talks were part of a series of discussions aimed at improving ties between regional power India and its smaller neighbor Pakistan, designated a major non-NATO ally this week by Washington for its support to the global US-led war on terror.
Delayed a month due to India’s national elections, the talks follow a meeting earlier in the week by top drug officials during which the neighbors agreed to share intelligence and help each other in prosecuting cross- border traffickers.
They also come a week before top diplomats from both sides are to meet in New Delhi to discuss a wide range of issues, including disputed Kashmir, which they both claim in full.
The countries decided to restart comprehensive talks — stalled for more than two years — after a landmark summit meeting between Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad in January.
India’s new left-leaning government that was sworn in on May 22 pledged to continue with the previous administration’s peace initiatives soon after taking over.
A highly placed Indian government source said a possible hotline between the nuclear command-and-control centers of the two nations would be among measures to be mooted at this weekend’s meeting.
