Top military officials from Pakistan, India expected to meet

ISLAMABAD: Amidst tensions, senior military officials from Pakistan and India are expected to meet next month to come up with a clear plan to restore ceasefire along the Line of Control, a media report said here today.

However, there was no independent confirmation of this from the Indian High Commission here.

"The timings have not been decided as yet," a diplomatic source told PTI.

The decision to lower the tensions at the LoC was taken during a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month.

The two premiers instructed their respective Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) to evolve a mechanism to avoid a repeat of ceasefire violations at the LoC.

The DGMOs talk to each other through a hotline every Tuesday.

"But at the New York summit the two prime ministers agreed that they (DGMOs) should have face-to-face talks," a Pakistani official was quoted as saying by the Express Tribune.

He added that the mechanism and venue for the meeting between the top military officials had yet to be worked out.

When contacted, a military official said it was not yet clear whether the talks would take place at the level of DGMOs or as part of the overall dialogue, the report said.

However, the report quoting unnamed officials said "senior military officials from Pakistan and India are expected to meet next month to come up with a clear plan to restore ceasefire" along the LoC.

Tensions along the LoC have flared up in recent months. India has accused Pakistani forces of helping militants infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir.

Reacting to the allegations, Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani termed remarks by his Indian counterpart Gen Bikram Singh as "unfortunate, unfounded and provocative".

He insisted that the Pakistan Army was exercising restraint but the same should in no way be used as a pretext for levelling such "baseless allegations that vitiate prospects of regional peace".