India, Pakistan agree to move ahead on missile tests notification

ISLAMABAD: India and Pakistan today decided 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, diplomatic sources said.

Following two-day talks on nuclear and conventional confidence-building measures, senior officials of the two countries agreed to recommend to their Foreign Secretaries to extend the validity of the "Agreement on Reducing the Risk from Accidents Relating to Nuclear Weapons" for five years.

The two sides also agreed to recommend to the Foreign Secretaries to extend the validity of the "Agreement on Pre-Notification of Flight Testing of Ballistic Missiles" by five years.

The current tenure of this pact is set to end in February next year, the sources told PTI.

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, the sources said.

Among the CBMs that were reviewed during the meeting of the Joint Working Group were the hotline between the Foreign Secretaries, the ceasefire put in place along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir in November 2003 and the agreement on advance notification of military exercises, the sources said.