NEW DELHI, 16 November 2006 — India and Pakistan yesterday agreed on measures to combat terrorism and prevent a nuclear conflict in South Asia at the first peace talks since a series of bombs ripped through Mumbai’s train network and killed 200 people in July. The two sides agreed to set up a joint anti-terror mechanism.
Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan said yesterday that during two days of talks, Indian officials had given him no evidence of Pakistani links to the Mumbai bombings, but “there is something about other blasts.” He did not elaborate.
Aside from the Mumbai bombings, other deadly recent attacks have included October 2005 bombings in New Delhi that killed 62 people, and bombings in March in the city of Varanasi that killed 20. India blamed both attacks on militants based in Pakistan.
Khan told reporters that he and his Indian counterpart, Shiv Shanker Menon, had agreed to set up a three-member commission to exchange information on terror threats, and added that a Foreign Ministry official from each side would work with the group.
The anti-terror measure was the key to India agreeing to resume talks after the Mumbai blasts. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf decided to take the step when they met in Havana, Cuba, on the sidelines of the Nonaligned Movement Summit in September.
Khan also said that the two sides had prepared a deal intended to limit the risk of an inadvertent nuclear conflict. The nuclear safety deal would be signed at a later date, he said, without providing any details of the agreement. Pranab Mukherjee, India’s external affairs minister, who met Khan and other Pakistani officials later Tuesday, emphasized the importance of India and Pakistan joining hands in the fight against terrorism.
A joint statement from Khan, and his Indian counterpart, Menon, said the new panel would “consider counterterrorism measures, including the regular and timely sharing of information.”
The panel on the Indian side will be led by K.C. Singh, additional secretary, counterterrorism in the Ministry of External Affairs, while Tariq Osman Haider will head the Pakistani panel.
About Indian allegations that Pakistan’s spy agency had a role in the Mumbai attacks, Khan said this was “finger pointing” and counterproductive and the new panel would be a better forum to discuss such issues. “We thought this was simply leveling allegations and not cooperation,” he told a news conference. But Menon said it was now up to Pakistan to prove it could act against militants. “We want them to stop activities of banned groups like Laskhar-e-Taiba,” he said. “First we will see how they act on the information we have already given to them.”
The two sides “expressed satisfaction over the implementation of the agreement on pre-notification of flight testing of ballistic missiles.” They also agreed on the “early signing” of an agreement to reduce the risk of “accidents relating to nuclear weapons”, without giving a specific time frame. The two are to meet next in Islamabad in February.
Khan and Menon acknowledged there were no breakthroughs on troop levels on the Siachen glacier or in disputed Kashmir. “We did have a discussion on Siachen,” Menon said. “We both described what bothers us. There is still a gap between our positions. It is something that we need to talk through. That is why we are still talking through this issue.”
In keeping with their desire to promote friendly exchanges, the two sides agreed on the need to finalize a new visa agreement at the earliest. They also decided to expand the list of religious places to be visited by people from both the countries. They also discussed the reopening of consulates in Mumbai and Karachi.
