India and Pakistan sign deal on ballistic missile tests

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India held comprehensive talks here on Monday aimed at furthering their composite dialogue and signed an agreement to alert each other in advance about ballistic missile tests.

External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh and Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri met over lunch at the Governor's House at Nathia Gali near Murree, reaching there after a 13-minute helicopter ride.

Located in the North West Frontier Province amid scenic surroundings, it is the same house where Henry Kissinger was put up in disguise when he made his now famous secret trip to China in 1971 using Pakistan as a transit. The Kissinger journey to China marked a major change in Washington's policy towards Beijing, leading to what eventually came to be known as the US-China-Pakistan axis.

Before going to the Governor's House, the two foreign ministers, assisted by officials, held talks here. The two sides discussed issues ranging from trade to Jammu and Kashmir, but details were not immediately available.

Natwar Singh's mission is to oversee the progress in the two rounds of the India-Pakistan composite dialogue and to prepare for the third round early next year.

On Tuesday, the India-Pakistan Joint Commission will meet for the first time since 1989. In a bid to further boost confidence building measures, Foreign Secretaries Shyam Saran and Riaz Mohammed Khan signed an agreement on alerting each other if they undertake surface-to-surface ballistic missile tests. It has been agreed that no test would take place within 40 km of the India-Pakistan border and each country would give at least 72 hours notice before every test.

India has handed over a draft MoU on measures to reduce the risks of accidental or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons under the control of both countries.

Senior officials of India's Coast Guard and Pakistan's Maritime Security Agency also signed an agreement on establishing a communication link. Since the international maritime boundary line between the two countries has not yet been ratified by the two countries, many fishermen from both sides stray into each other's territorial waters.

The communication link will lead to early exchange of information between the two sides regarding apprehended fishermen who inadvertently stray into one another's territory. The link will also facilitate the early intimation of arrests, nationality verification and repatriation, and search and rescue operations.

Natwar Singh will call on Musharraf on Tuesday before flying to Karachi, where he will oversee the renovation being done at the Indian consulate that was shut in the wake of the demolition of the Babri mosque attacks in 1992. Pakistan is also set to open its consulate in Mumbai.