India and Pakistan today decided to strengthen existing mechanisms to maintain the truce along the LoC, months after bilateral ties nosedived over the killing of five Indian soldiers and flare-ups between the two sides on the ceasefire line.
The agreement came at a meeting of the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two sides, who held face-to-face talks for the first time in 14 years at the Wagah border.
"We had a cordial, constructive and fruitful meeting. We discussed the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) and the existing mechanisms," DGMO Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia said after the two-hour-long talks with his Pakistani counterpart Maj Gen Aamer Riaz.
"We both decided to ensure ceasefire and strengthen the existing mechanisms."
The meeting was an outcome of talks between Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Nawaz Sharif in New York in September at the height of tensions triggered by the LoC flare-ups.
The premiers had decided the DGMOs should hold talks to reduce tensions but the meeting could not be scheduled till now, over which Singh had even expressed disappointment with Sharif.
Besides the DGMOs, a brigadier and three lieutenant colonels from both sides took part in the talks.
The Pakistani military released photos of Riaz receiving Bhatia at the border and a picture of the meeting.
A Pakistani military statement issued earlier said the decision to hold the meeting of the DGMOs was made at the political level.
Besides tensions on the Line of Control (LoC), the DGMOs were expected to discuss matters related to the international boundary with a focus on maintaining the 2003 ceasefire and ensuring normalcy, the statement said.
