India and Pakistan Discuss Anti-Terror Mechanism

The ATM meeting did not bring about any concrete decisions -- none were expected in the first place. But officials on both sides admitted that the very fact the ATM meeting had taken place at all was in itself an encouraging and positive development.

The two sides discussed the terror acts which have taken place in both countries since March this year when the first ATM meeting took place. The Indian side updated the Pakistani side about the Samjhauta Express blast near Panipat, India. The Pakistanis told the Indians that their own investigations found Pakistan was in no way connected with the explosion.

The Indian side also presented a list of names of terrorists who are wanted for terrorist acts in India and who, according to Indian information, are presently in Pakistan. The list carries old names such as "global terrorist" Dawood Ibrahim, and also half a dozen new names. One of these is Shahid Bilal, the Harakat ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HuJI) terrorist who is believed to be the brain behind the recent Hyderabad and Ajmer blasts.

5th round of nuclear CBMs

At the fifth round of talks on nuclear and missile-related Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) on October 19, Pakistan reiterated its proposal to India to have a nuclear restraint regime in South Asia. India rejected the proposal on the grounds that Indian nuclear arms are essentially a deterrence tool from nuclear powers which are not necessarily located in South Asia -- an obvious reference to China.

Another important development was that Pakistan conveyed to India, for the first time, that it would not press India for the inclusion of cruise missiles in the pre-notification of missile tests treaty. India and Pakistan signed this treaty some years ago when India already possessed a cruise missile - the BrahMos - but Pakistan did not. At that time, Pakistan pressed India hard that cruise missiles should also be included within the ambit of the treaty.

But Pakistan now also boasts a cruise missile -- the Babar. In view of the perceived parity on the cruise missile front, Pakistan told India last week that it would no longer press for a similar treaty with regard to cruise missiles.

Positively surprised

The Pakistani side said the nuclear CBMs were working very well and beyond expectations. The Pakistani officials also told the Indians that they deeply appreciated India's gesture of giving advanced notification about its recent Agni tests.

The two sides noted with satisfaction that they were on the same page on the issue of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in international fora. However, Pakistan turned down the Indian suggestion to formalise this bilateral understanding. Pakistan’s viewpoint is that if this Indo-Pak synergy is working well in the international arena, there is no need to bilateralise it.

The two countries' foreign secretaries will meet early next year to prepare the roadmap for the fifth round of the Composite Dialogue process under which talks on conventional and nuclear CBMs have been held since June 2004.