Islamabad: India and Pakistan today (Dec 14, 2004) began separate talks in Islamabad on nuclear confidence building measures (CBMs) and to work-out modalities to conduct joint survey of pillars at Sir Creek area of the Gujarat coast.

A five-member Indian delegation headed by Additional Secretary (International Organisations) in External Affairs Ministry, Meera Shankar, and her Pakistani counterpart Tariq Osman Hyder will deliberate on nuclear CBMs, which would include a possible agreement on giving advance notice to each other before conducting missile tests.

Ahead of the talks, officials in Islamabad said the discussions were aimed at reducing the risk of accidental war and promoting strategic stability.

"The two sides will discuss proposals on nuclear CBMs, including the draft agreement on pre-notification of flight-testing of missiles," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said yesterday (Dec 13).

Today's meeting will be followed by the first round of two-day expert-level talks on conventional issues tomorrow.

Top Defence officials from both the countries are also meeting here to discuss modalities to conduct joint survey of pillars at Sir Creek area of the Gujarat Coast over which the two sides have differences. Brigadier Girish Kumar, Deputy Surveyor General, is heading the Indian delegation, while Major Gen Jamilur Rehman Afridi, Surveyor General at the Defence ministry here, is leading the Pakistani side.

The two sides will discuss various modalities regarding the joint survey of the boundary pillars laid in the Sir Creek area in the past.

Sir Creek has been part of the Composite Dialogue process but the two countries have not made any headway so far.

During the last Foreign Ministers meeting in September, it has been decided that the two sides would conduct Joint Survey of the boundary pillars in the horizontal segment (blue dotted line) of the international boundary in the Sir Creek area.

The two sides would conduct survey of pillar erected to demarcate between Sindh and Kutch in 1924.

India believes that the centre of the navigable channel of Sir Creek should be the boundary line while Pakistan's position is that the eastern Bank of Sir Creek should be the line of demarcation.

The survey of pillars was expected to be completed before the two sides begin talks on Sir Creek under the second round of the Composite Dialogue process.