India, Pakistan DGMOs meet at Wagah-Attari border

The much anticipated meeting between the Director Generals Military Operations of India and Pakistan began on Tuesday along the Wagah-Attari border to work out a mechanism to ease tensions and ensure peace at the Line of Control (LoC).

The Indian side is led by Lt General Vinod Bhatia while Major Gen Aamer Riaz is heading the Pakistani side. A brigadier and three lieutenant colonels from each side are also participating in the talks. Official sources here said the meeting was scheduled to take place on the 'No Man's Land' at the Wagah-Attari border.

The Pakistan military said in a statement the decision to hold the meeting between the Pakistani and Indian DGMOs was taken on political level. The DGMOs will discuss issues pertaining to tension on LoC and other related issues on the working boundary with a focus to maintain ceasefire and bring normalcy.

The DGMOs of the two nations are meeting for the first time in 14 years. They last met in 1999 after the Kargil war. India is expected to forcefully convey to Pakistan the importance of maintaining ceasefire at the LoC.

Pakistani media reports have said Islamabad is expected to seek a bigger role for UN military observers deployed along the LoC. The UNMOGIP was established in 1949 under the resolution passed by the world body’s Security Council to supervise ceasefire along the LoC.

The meeting comes three months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif proposed this meeting to defuse tensions. Pakistan had initially proposed to include the Foreign Ministry officials in the meeting of senior military officials but India rejected it.

However, Pakistan Foreign Office had said last week, "For the time being, this meeting will be between the DGMOs but our proposal is still on the table."