NEW DELHI (AFP) — India and Pakistan on Friday reviewed their efforts to cut the risk of accidents involving nuclear weapons and discussed arms and security issues.
The one-day meeting was part of a peace process launched between the nuclear-armed neighbours in January 2004.
"Discussions focused on a review of the implementation of existing agreements and on disarmament and non-proliferation-related issues of mutual interest in multilateral forums," a joint statement on Friday said.
In February, India and Pakistan signed a deal designed to help avoid the accidental sparking of a nuclear conflict.
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."
India's delegation was led by senior foreign ministry official K.C. Singh and Pakistan's by his counterpart, Khalid Aziz Babar.
The talks will be followed on Monday by the second meeting of an anti-terror mechanism initiated by the two countries this year, the statement said.
The first round of talks on anti-terror cooperation was held in February, shortly after bombs on a cross-border train heading from India to Pakistan killed almost 70 people.
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