ISLAMABAD, 27 April 2006 — Pakistan and India said yesterday they would finalize an agreement in July to reduce risks of nuclear accidents.
The two sides agreed to work on a pact that would avert the risk of an accident triggering a nuclear conflict between the South Asian rivals, a joint statement issued after the meeting said.
After the conclusion of the two-day talks on nuclear confidence-building measures (NCBMs) yesterday, leader of the Pakistani delegation Tariq Osman Hyder and his Indian counterpart K. C. Singh, who spoke to the press, said they hoped to reach an agreement during their next round of talks in July.
Singh, who is an additional secretary at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, said his country’s policy remains not to launch nuclear strikes against a non-nuclear state. He said talks with his Pakistani counterpart were very fruitful and they agreed to establish a hot line to reduce the risk of any nuclear accident and to keep each other posted.
The two sides held detailed discussions on the draft text of the nuclear agreement and agreed to work toward its finalization.
The discussions focused on security concepts and nuclear doctrines to develop confidence-building measures.
“The two delegations reiterated the desire to keep working toward further elaboration and implementation of nuclear CBMs with the objective of promoting a stable environment of peace and security,” said the statement.
It was agreed that future periodic expert level talks would discuss, review and monitor implementation of NCBMs.
“The two sides also agreed to report the progress made in the present round of talks to their respective foreign secretaries, who will decide on the date and venue of the next round of discussions,” the statement added.
The two countries are scheduled to hold talks on conventional confidence-building measures (CCBMs) today in Islamabad.
This is the fourth round of talks on nuclear and conventional CBMs under the ongoing peace talks, which resumed in February 2004 after years of tensions that brought the two South Asian neighbors on the verge of a full-scale war.
The talks on nuclear CBMs were held for the first time after India signed an agreement with the United States on peaceful uses of nuclear energy during President George W Bush’s visit to New Delhi last March.
The talks also focused on a Pakistani proposal, which calls for developing a Strategic Restraint Regime (SRR), which envisages nuclear and missile restraint, conflict resolution and conventional balance.
