Next round of Indo-Pak talks in November

India and Pakistan will hold the next round of expert-level meetings on nuclear and conventional confidence-building measures as also discuss issues related to bus link between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad in November and December.

The two governments today exchanged suggestions on specific dates in the second half of November and early December for holding meetings on eight subjects including these three, external affairs ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters here.

Railway authorities of the two sides will meet during the time span to discuss the proposed Munnabao-Khokrapar rail link.

The Indian coast guards and the Pakistan maritime security agency will also meet to discuss the memorandum of understanding for establishing communication link between them.

There would be a meeting between narcotics control authorities during which the two sides are expected to finalise a memorandum of understanding.

The expert-level meeting on nuclear confidence-building measures will also discuss a draft agreement on advance notification of missile tests.

A meeting of the committee on experts on trade-related issues will also be held during this period. Another one will take place regarding the joint survey of the boundary pillars in the horizontal segment of the international boundary in the Sir Creek area, Sarna said.

He said the dates would be co-ordinated and specified agreed dates would be announced shortly.

This is a follow up to the agreement arrived at by foreign ministers K Natwar Singh and Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri when they met here last month that meetings be held on different subjects.

It was subsequently agreed that a meeting between border security force and Pakistan rangers would be held on October 11-14 in Chandigarh.

At the last round of nuclear CBMs held here in June this year, the two sides had agreed to establish a "dedicated and secure" hotline between their foreign secretaries to prevent misunderstandings and reduce risks with regard to nuclear issues.

It was also decided that the existing hotline between the directors-general of military operations would be "upgraded, dedicated and secured".

Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will be paying a visit to India later this year as Saarc chairperson. Manmohan Singh will meet Aziz in Dhaka in January next year on the sidelines of the Saarc summit.

At the foreign ministers meeting in September, it was decided that the foreign secretaries Shyam Saran and Riaz Khokhar will meet in December this year to discuss overall progress, as well as subjects of peace and security including confidence-building measures and Jammu and Kashmir, in the composite dialogue.

They would also work out a schedule of meetings on the other six subjects of the dialogue process "" Siachen, Wullar barrage/Tulbul navigation project, Sir Creek, terrorism and drug trafficking, economic and commercial co-operation and promotion of friendly exchanges in various fields.

Natwar Singh had then accepted an invitation by Kasuri to visit Pakistan and dates for it would be worked out through diplomatic channels.