India, Pak exchange lists of nuclear installations

India and Pakistan on Sunday exchanged lists of their nuclear installations and facilities under a two-decade-old pact prohibiting attacks on atomic assets.

Islamabad: India and Pakistan on Sunday exchanged
lists of their nuclear installations and facilities under a
two-decade-old pact prohibiting attacks on atomic assets, days
after senior officials of the two sides held talks here on
nuclear and conventional CBMs.

The governments of the two countries are required to
exchange lists of their nuclear installations and facilities
on January 1 every year under the terms of the "Agreement on
Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and
Facilities" that was signed in December 1988.

"In accordance with the aforesaid agreement, a list of
requisite facilities in Pakistan was given to the Indian High
Commission official at the Foreign Office today at 11.30
(Pakistan time)," said a statement from the Foreign Office.

"The Indian side also handed over its list to the
Pakistan High Commission official at the Ministry of External
Affairs in New Delhi at 1200 hours IST," it said.

This was the 21st consecutive year that the lists of
nuclear facilities were exchanged since 1992.

The exchange was conducted even during a freeze in
bilateral ties after the 2008 Mumbai attacks that were carried
out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba terror group.

The two sides also exchanged list of prisoners currently
being held in each other`s jails under a separate pact.

The two countries are required to exchange lists of
prisoners twice a year under the Agreement on Consular Access
signed in May 2008.

India and Pakistan resumed their peace process early last
year after a gap of almost two years.

Following two-day talks on nuclear and conventional
confidence-building measures last week, the two countries
agreed to move forward on proposals to extend two key
agreements on pre-notification of ballistic missile tests and
reducing the risk from accidents related to nuclear weapons.

A Joint Working Group agreed to recommend to the two
Foreign Secretaries to extend the validity of the "Agreement
on Reducing the Risk from Accidents Relating to Nuclear
Weapons" for five years.

It also agreed to recommend the extension of the
"Agreement on Pre-Notification of Flight Testing of Ballistic
Missiles" by five years.

This pact is set to expire in February.

The two sides reviewed a range of existing CBMs and
discussed proposals for additional measures in areas where
they could make forward movement, officials said.

PTI

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