The Foreign Office spokesman on Wednesday said that experts from Pakistan and India would keep meeting periodically to continue their discussions on nuclear confidence building measures. The idea, he said, was to sustain the process and gain positive results.
Speaking at his regular weekly news briefing, Masood Khan said that the two countries had adopted the outline for a strategy in this respect and would continue to pursue it.
Pakistan wants to promote nuclear and strategic stability and make Asia a stable region and this could be done in co-operation with India, he added.
He said the discussions on the missile-testing regime had been reduced to writing and the draft had been circulated among the two delegations.
The Foreign Secretaries of Pakistan and India will discuss it when they meet next week in New Delhi for finalisation.
Masood said that the two sides had also discussed, in passing, the questions relating to the Baghlihar dam, fencing of the Line of Control and evolution of a common nuclear doctrine, but concentrated more on nuclear confidence building measures. The delegations wanted to identify all issues which concern the CBMs.
He said that the menu for future contacts was clear and "sky is the limit" as the intention is to sustain the peace process and usher in an era of peace and security in South Asia.
Pakistan's delegation, he said, was going to work diligently to make these contacts successful and this spirit continued to prevail during the delegation's visit to New Delhi.
He said that the opening of an Indian Consulate in Karachi was under consideration and would be discussed by the Foreign Secretaries. And, also when a decision to liberalise the visa facilities for Pakistanis and Indians is taken it would also include the media persons, he added.
Masood deflected a question on contribution of Pakistan's troops to peacekeeping efforts in Iraq, saying that the position of the Federal Government was well-known on the issue and there had been no change in it.
He said Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Asian nations and had therefore upgraded its relations with Asean.
It has actively been participating in the proceedings of the Asian Development Forum and now the recently concluded Asian Co-operation Dialogue (ACD) held in China.
The meetings of the ACD, he said, had provided an opportunity for Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri to meet with his Indian counterpart Natwar Singh and discuss with him, directly, several issues relating to the current peace process.
This was the first contact at the political level with India since the induction of the Congress-led government there.
About the recent military operation in Wana (South Waziristan), Masood said that action against the militants in the area, who were led by late Nek Mohammad of Ahmed Zai, was taken in the interest of the country and the government would not hesitate to repeat it if the situation warranted it again.
The spokesman said that he had found an atmosphere of "euphoria" prevailing about the peace process, with India, and the officials, non-officials, academics and media persons he had met there had the curiosity about the shape of things to come. However, he said, there was general optimism about the success of the process.
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