India and Pakistan hold nuclear confidence talks

Indian and Pakistani representatives today met to discuss formalising a pact to share information ahead of missile tests and other measures aimed at reducing the risk of nuclear conflict.

The two-day talks will be the third round between the nuclear-armed neighbours, which began a sweeping peace dialogue last year to ease decades of bitter tensions. No official statement was expected before the end of talks tomorrow.

Relations between India and Pakistan have warmed considerably in recent months, although the two sides have made little progress in resolving their dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, an issue at the core of their rivalry.

But Indian analysts say both sides acknowledge the talks on Kashmir must take place on a separate track to avoid stalling negotiations on other issues, such as nuclear weapons.

Pakistan in the past rejected such an approach, insisting the Kashmir dispute be resolved before discussing other issues.

But it changed its stance under international pressure, and C. Uday Bhaskar of New Delhi’s state-run Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses said Pakistan could no longer “try to make this invalid linkage between Kashmir and the nuclear issue”.

The earlier rounds of nuclear-related talks were held in June and December last year.

The latest round is scheduled to be followed on Monday by discussions on other confidence building measures, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna.

India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in 1998, provoking economic sanction from the US and other countries. The restrictions have now been lifted.

The two countries agreed last year to set up a hotline to avoid the risk of nuclear war, and the two sides were expected to discuss ways to get the system up and running, he said.

The officials were also expected to complete a formal agreement on prior notification of missile tests, something the two sides have been doing informally since 1999.