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India, Pakistan open fresh talks on nuclear issues

AFP, New Delhi
India and Pakistan yesterday began a fresh round of talks aimed at building trust on military issues and avoiding an accidental nuclear war between the neighbouring rivals.
The two sides hope to finalise an agreement to notify each other ahead of missile tests and upgrade an existing hotline to reduce risks of nuclear accidents, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said.
It is the third round of discussions in the so-called nuclear confidence building measures (CBMs). Previous meetings, part of a peace
process that began in January 2004, were also held in June and last December.
But analysts say the mood has changed from the heady optimism three months ago, when leaders of the two nations said the peace process, aimed at ending nearly 60 years of mutual hostility, was "irreversible."
The latest round comes after US President George W. Bush announced that the United States would resume civilian nuclear sales to India.
"Pakistan's reaction has not been very positive and that is a major
factor to be taken into account when dealing with nuclear CBMs," said Kalim Bahadur, who teaches Asian studies at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University.
"Pakistan's position also is it should have arms parity with India in spite of the vast differences in population and economies," he said.
New Delhi has rejected such proposals on the grounds Pakistan's arsenal buildup targets India specifically. India says it does not base its defence capacity on any country or threat and "does not want to be
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restrained in developing its arms capability," Bahadur said.
India and Pakistan conducted tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests in May 1998. They have fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.
After coming close to a fourth war in 2002, the rivals launched a peace process in January last year to resolve all issues through dialogue, including the Kashmir dispute.
When the experts from the two sides met in December 2004 in Pakistan, they agreed to push forward plans for a nuclear hotline but failed to reach a deal on advanced warning of ballistic missile tests.
In January, as they do annually, the two countries exchanged updated lists of their nuclear facilities in line with a bilateral agreement signed in 1988 prohibiting attacks against each other's nuclear installations.
Although the two countries normally inform each other when holding missile tests, no formal deal has been signed.
The Indian Express urged the two sides to "get a move on", saying in an editorial that agreements already being negotiated must be finalised and new ones put on the table.
"India has trapped itself into demanding too many technical details of missile launches from Pakistan," the paper said. "This approach is unproductive."
Next week, negotiators from the two sides will meet in Delhi to discuss other, non-military confidence building measures as well as ways to expand commercial ties.
The ongoing talks are aimed at resolving eight nagging disputes between India and Pakistan, including the core problem of Kashmir where a raging Islamic insurgency has killed tens of thousands of people since 1989.
The delegations for the nuclear discussions are being led by senior foreign ministry officials Tariq Osman Hyder of Pakistan and India's Meera Shankar.