India, Pakistan talks on CBMs next month

Another meeting is slated to discuss issues linked with the commencement of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service with the two sides differing over the travel documents required by bus passengers.

While suggestions for specific dates have been exchanged, both sides are yet to finalise the schedule except for a meeting between the BSF and Pakistan Rangers which will be held at Chandigarh on October 11-14.

Railway authorities of the two sides will also meet between November and December to discuss the proposed Munabao-Khokrapar rail link. The Coast Guard and the Pakistan maritime security agency are also slated to meet to discuss the MoU for establishing a communication link between them. The Sir Creek issue will also be addressed during this period with a joint survey of the boundary pillars in the horizontal segment of the international boundary. This apart, narcotics control authorities from both sides will meet and are expected to finalise a memorandum of understanding. A meeting of the committee on experts on trade has also been slotted.

According to an MEA spokesperson, this is a follow up to the agreement reached between External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri when they met here last month.

At the last round of meetings on nuclear CBMs held in June, the two sides had agreed to establish a ‘‘dedicated and secure’’ hotline between the foreign secretaries to prevent misunderstanding and reduce nuclear risk. The existing hotline between the Directors General of Military Operations was also to be ‘‘upgraded, dedicated and secured’’.

It may be recalled that at the meeting between Singh and Kasuri last month, an understanding was reached that the foreign secretaries will meet in December this year to discuss the overall progress, as well as take up subjects of peace and security which would include CBMs and Jammu and Kashmir. They would also work out a schedule of meetings on the other six subjects of the dialogue process — Siachen, Wullar Barrage, Sir Creek, terrorism and drug trafficking, commercial cooperation and promotion of friendly exchanges in various fields.