Approaching the first-ever crucial expert-level talks on Nuclear Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in a positive framework, India and Pakistan on Saturday exchanged views on their respective security concepts and nuclear doctrines and agreed to elaborate and work towards CBMs.
"Both sides approached the talks in a positive framework aimed at taking the process forward and making them result-oriented, an agreed press statement said at the end of the first session of talks lasting two hours.
"The two delegations identified areas of convergence including in the context of multilateral fora. They also exchanged views on their respective security concepts and nuclear doctrines and agreed to elaborate and work towards CBMs," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said while giving details of the statement.
India wants both sides to give positive signals to the people in their countries as also to the international community and allay any apprehension of nuclear conflagration in South Asia.
The Pakistani delegation is led by Tariq Osman Hyder, Additional Secretary in the Pakistan Foreign Office while the Indian team is headed by Sheel Kant Sharma, Additional Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry.
Hyder is assisted by former Pakistan deputy high commissioner in New Delhi and at present Director General of South Asia, Jalil Abbas Jilani.
The other members of the Pakistani delegation are Masood Khan, the foreign office spokesman who is also looking after the UN desk, Shuja Alam, Director (Foreign Office), Group Captain Khalid Banuri, Deputy Director, Strategic Plans Division and Khaleel-ur Rehman Hashim, Deputy Director (Foreign Office).
The Indian delegation includes Arun K Singh, Joint Secretary in the MEA and officials from the Department of Atomic Energy and DRDO.
The two sides are expected to pick up threads from the February, 1999 Memorandum of Understanding dealing with nuclear CBMs signed in Lahore during the visit of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Under the 1999 MoU, the two countries agreed to abide by their unilateral moratorium on conducting further nuclear tests, "unless either side, in exercise of its national sovereignty decides extraordinary events have jeopardised its supreme interests."
The two sides will also engage in bilateral consultations on security, disarmament and non-proliferation issues within the context of negotiations on these issues in multilateral fora, it said.
They had agreed to give advance notice about tests of ballistic missiles, take steps to reduce risks of accidental or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons and notify each other about accidental, unauthorised or unexplained incidents to prevent outbreak of hostilities between the two countries and work out a mechanism to communicate in this regard.