Tuesday, January 17 2006 20:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Seeking to further consolidate the confidence-building measures (CBMs), India today (Jan 17, 2006) proposed a freeze on setting up of new defence posts and defence works along the Line of Control (LoC) and announced its intention to extend the Munnabao-Khokrapar rail link to Ajmer.

The Indian side also proposed holding of Brigadier-level flag meetings on the first day of the two-day talks here between Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammad Khan, which marked launching of the third round of Composite Dialogue.

Saran conveyed India's strong concerns over unabated cross-border terrorism as the two sides reviewed the progress made in the dialogue process and looked forward to launching new CBMs.

The Pakistani side proposed that there should be no permanent relocation of strike formations in forward locations and that the agreement on pre-notification of missile tests be extended to cruise missiles, sources said.

Islamabad also suggested that the current "conducive environment" should be utilised for forward movement on Kashmir and other contentious issues, the sources said.

The two sides noted the "positive developments" in the overall improvement in relations and reduction of "trust deficit," Sarna said.