India, Pakistan Sign Agreements on Missile Test Notification, Foreign Ministries’ Nuclear Hot Line

India and Pakistan agreed Saturday to establish a nuclear hot line between their foreign ministries and to notify each other in advance of ballistic missile tests, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 5).

The nuclear-armed rivals also agreed to upgrade an existing military hot line by next month, said Indian Foreign Ministry official Meera Shankar.

Top Pakistani envoy Tariq Osman Hyder said the agreement was “a step in the right direction.”

“It’s a good step,” Hyder said. “Pakistan and India are nuclear states, living side by side. We have to evolve the modality for confidence building (and) nuclear restraint for resolution of all disputes between us” (Agence France-Presse/Sify News, Aug. 6).

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