Islamabad: India and Pakistan have exchanged
several proposals on conventional and nuclear confidence-
building measures like inclusion of cruise missile launches in
the mechanism for advance notification of missile tests.
The proposal for including cruise missile tests in the
existing bilateral agreement on Pre-Notification Of Flight
Testing Of Ballistic Missiles, signed in October 2005, was
mooted by the Indian side during yesterday's talks between the
Foreign Secretaries on peace and security, sources familiar
with the discussions said.
The Pakistani side gave a proposal for the two sides to
"exchange experiences and expertise" in the field of nuclear
technology, especially the operation of atomic power plants
and their safety mechanisms, the sources said.
Making a reference to the recent nuclear accident at the
Fukushima atomic plant in Japan after a devastating earthquake
and tsunami, the Pakistani side proposed that the two sides
could work together to address similar safety concerns, they
added.
The proposals were discussed by the two sides but no firm
commitment was made by either delegation, the sources said.
The discussions were only of a preliminary nature and
both sides would explore the proposals in future talks, they
added. Islamabad has been pressing Washington to provide it with
a civil nuclear deal similar to the one concluded with New
Delhi.
The US has initiated preliminary talks with Pakistan on
this issue but made it clear that any possible deal is
unlikely to be concluded anytime in the near future due to
continuing proliferation concerns.
The existing agreement between India and Pakistan on
pre-notification of missile tests covers surface-to-surface
ballistic missiles.
In the nuclear field, a leading CBM is the annual
exchange of lists of nuclear installations of the two
countries.
PTI
First Published: Friday, June 24, 2011, 18:18