Pakistan, India arms control talks end without any breakthrough

Dec 27, 2011, 13:54 GMT

Islamabad - A sixth round of Indian-Pakistani expert-level talks on nuclear confidence-building measures ended Tuesday without reaching any major agreement.

The two-day negotiations were held after the countries' foreign ministers decided in July to resume arms control negotiations, which were suspended after a 2008 Mumbai attack that killed more than 160 people and for which India blamed Pakistan based militants.

'Both sides reviewed the implementation and strengthening of existing CBMs (confidence-building measures) ... and agreed to explore possibilities for mutually acceptable additional CBMs,' said a joint statement issued after talks.

They reportedly also agreed to recommend that their foreign secretaries extend the existing Agreement on Reducing the Risk from Accidents Relating to Nuclear Weapons for another five years.

India and Pakistan have fought three major wars since gaining independence from Great Britain in 1947.

They formally established peaceful relations with the signing of the Lahore Understanding in 1999, following nuclear weapons tests by both states in the previous year.

The neighbouring states launched a structured dialogue in 2004 to resolve their differences and had held five rounds of talks when India suspended cooperation after the Mumbai attacks in 2008.

Earlier this year, the two sides agreed to restart talks.

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