ISLAMABAD, 5 July 2005 — Pakistan and India have decided to hold nuclear talks on Aug. 2 and 3 in New Delhi with official quarters here saying that a vital agreement on advance warning of missile tests is on the cards.
Earlier, the South Asian nuclear rivals were to hold these talks in the middle of last month but in order to give a chance to the back-channel diplomacy for success on prenotification of missile tests, the crucial negotiations were put off.
Now it has been decided that the formal talks on nuclear issues would be held in the first week of August, most likely on Aug. 2 and 3 and these would be followed by a dialogue on conventional confidence-building measures (CBMs).
The talks on nuclear and conventional CBMs would be held in the Indian capital, said diplomatic sources.
They said owing to intense informal talks between the two sides during the last couple of months, the much sought after pact on advance warning of missile tests was most likely to be inked at the end of nuclear talks on CBMs.
Sources said that concrete progress on proposed foreign secretaries’ hotline was also expected. This dedicated line was meant to prevent misunderstanding and avert an accidental use of nuclear weapons that could bring catastrophic results for the peace and stability of the region.
Pakistan and India have already upgraded the hotline to the level of top military level of DGMO.
The last round of experts-level talks on nuclear and conventional CBMs were held here in December, 2004. However, they remained inconclusive with both the sides only announcing to continue with their parleys in coming months.
During the last round of expert-level talks on nuclear CBMs, both the sides could not give a final shape to the pact on advance warning of missile tests owing to their row over sharing sensitive details on launch sites and trajectories.
Since then, according to the sources, informal consultations were on between the two sides to hold the next round of experts’ talks on nuclear and conventional CBMs and also to evolve some sort of consensus on the conflicting issues.
Sources said that two separate groups formed by Islamabad and New Delhi would hold talks in the Indian capital on nuclear and conventional CBMs.
“Pakistan and India already have an informal arrangement on advance warning of missile tests but it was the finalization of formal agreement on the matter that the both sides are striving for,” the official added.
