India, Pakistan talk to ease nuclear tensions

India, Pakistan talk to ease nuclear tensions
NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (AFP) Oct 19, 2007
India and Pakistan opened talks Friday aimed at cutting the risk of accidents with nuclear weapons and developing further cooperation in the arms arena, officials said.

The one-day meeting is part of a peace process launched between the nuclear-armed neighbours in January 2004, India's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Discussions will focus on reviewing the implementation of existing nuclear confidence-building deals and security issues in global organisations, such as the United Nations, the statement said.

In February, India and Pakistan signed a deal to try to avoid an accidental nuclear conflict through immediate notification of any mishaps.

The countries had already agreed to inform each other before conducting ballistic missile tests and to exchange lists of nuclear facilities every year.

The South Asian rivals have fought three wars since 1947, including two over the still-disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

They are considering cooperation on a range of issues, including developing shared positions on security issues at the United Nations or the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

"Both have common positions on many issues at the UN for example but do not work together as yet," said Arundhati Ghosh, India's former envoy to Geneva.

"Cooperation at this level -- presenting a common position -- could be one of the issues on the table today (Friday)."

India's delegation was led by senior foreign ministry official K.C. Singh and Pakistan's by his counterpart, Khalid Aziz Babar.

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