Islamabad: India and Pakistan on Tuesday
announced that they had agreed to extend a pact on reducing
the risk from accidents related to nuclear weapons for another
five years.
The two sides agreed to extend the validity of the
'Agreement on Reducing the Risk from Accidents Relating to
Nuclear Weapons' for five years with effect from today in line
with an understanding reached during the sixth round of
bilateral expert-level talks on nuclear confidence building
measures held in Islamabad on December 27, 2011.
The agreement had entered into force on February 21, 2007
for an initial duration of five years, said a statement from
Pakistan's Foreign Office.
"It aims at reducing the risk from accidents related to
nuclear weapons," it said.
During the talks held in December, India and Pakistan
decided to move forward on proposals to extend two key
agreements related to pre-notification of ballistic missile
tests and reducing the risk from accidents related to nuclear
weapons.
The two sides reviewed a range of existing nuclear and
conventional CBMs and discussed proposals for additional
measures in areas where the two countries could make forward
movement.
A proposal for an agreement to prevent "incidents at
sea", involving naval vessels of the two countries, also came
up during those talks.
The talks on nuclear and conventional CBMs were part of
the peace process that resumed last year after a gap of over
two years in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which were
blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 17:53