Indo-Pak nuclear talks begin in New Delhi

India and Pakistan have started talks for the first time since the two became nuclear. Read in Hindi

Additional Secretary of the International Organisation of the Indian External Affairs Ministry, Sheel Kant Sharma (L) shakes hands with his Pakistani counterpart leading a Pakistani delegation, Tariq Osman Haider, before a meeting in New Delhi on June 19, 2004.  India and Pakistan began talks on reducing the risk of nuclear confrontation and accidental use of atomic weapons in South Asia.

India and Pakistan on Saturday kicked off unprecedented talks to reduce the risk of nuclear war for the first time since the neighbours became nuclear powers in 1998 and two years after they edged to the brink of war.

The two day talk in New Delhi come during a hesitant, year-old peace process as the two sides try to rebuild relations.

Pakistan's acting foreign secretary, Tariq Osman Hyder, is leading an eight-member team for the discussions with an additional secretary from India's Foreign Ministry, Sheel Kant Sharma, and other officials.

The meeting, delayed a month by India's election, comes a week before talks on a range of issues, including disputed Kashmir, from next Sunday between the two foreign secretaries, the civil servants in charge of both foreign ministries.

Tensions over Kashmir, especially fighting in the summer of 1999 in the Kargil region, have delayed the nuclear risk reduction talks for six years.

Some analysts say the fact that the countries are talking at all on how to prevent nuclear conflict is welcome in itself.

"The aim of the talks is to agree on the broad agenda for future talks. It is unrealistic to expect a quick breakthrough. It took the superpowers over 30 years to break their nuclear impasse," defence analyst Jasjit Singh said.

"But whether now or later, both sides will have to talk about reducing armed conflict across its full spectrum to decrease the risk of a nuclear clash."

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region of Kashmir where Muslim militants are still fighting Indian forces.

Despite attempts at a peace process after Kargil, the two countries came close to war in mid-2002 after Pakistani insurgents attacked the Indian parliament in late 2001, sparking international fears of a nuclear exchange.

After former Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's offer of peace drew an encouraging response from Islamabad. Transport links and full diplomatic ties were restored and the ageing leader met Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in January in Pakistan.

New Delhi's stated nuclear policy is not to strike first with nuclear weapons, but Pakistan, worried about India's growing conventional military superiority, has made no such pledge.