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India, Pakistan to Finalize Agreement on Missile Test Notification by July, Indian Official Says By Mike Nartker WASHINGTON — India and Pakistan plan to finalize an agreement establishing a formal system of advance notification of missile tests by this summer, Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh said Wednesday (see GSN, Jan. 3). The agreement is one of several Indian and Pakistani officials have been ordered to complete during a set of meetings scheduled to occur by July, Singh said during a joint press conference in Islamabad with his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Kasuri. The press conference was held following Singh’s visit to Pakistan, the first by an Indian foreign minister since 1989, which also involved meetings with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. Other talks to be held by this summer will focus on finalizing memorandums of understanding between the Indian and Pakistani coastal and narcotics authorities, Singh said. India and Pakistan agreed last year to develop a formal advance notification system on missile tests to replace the informal approach now in place. Over the past year, both countries have conducted a number of tests of various nuclear-capable ballistic missile systems. U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency chief Vice Adm. Lowell Jacoby warned Congress this week that India and Pakistan’s continued ballistic missile efforts are a reflection of the “tension” between the two nuclear-armed rivals. India and Pakistan also agreed to begin negotiations on developing an agreement to reduce the risk of nuclear accidents or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons, Singh said. Experts yesterday praised the two countries’ decision to develop such an agreement. “Not very long ago, the governments of India and Pakistan belittled the prospect of a nuclear accident or incident. So this is a very positive development that is indicative of far more responsible nuclear stewardship,” said Michael Krepon, president emeritus of the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington. One concern is that past confidence-building and risk-reduction measures were “hard to sustain” when Indian-Pakistani relations were poor, according to Teresita Schaffer, director of the South Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “So it will be important to put a system in place that is robust enough, and gets exercised often enough, to be used in times of tension,” she said. Wednesday’s talks were the latest step in a composite peace dialogue India and Pakistan launched last year with the aim of resolving outstanding disputes. Chief among them is the issue of the divided Kashmir region, which remains a potential regional flashpoint. During this week’s meeting, Pakistan “impressed upon the Indian government for an early and final settlement,” Kasuri said. The two countries agreed to launch on April 7 a bus service between the capitals of the divided region — Srinagar on the Indian side of the informal Line of Control and Muzaffarabad on the Pakistani side. Travel will be conducted through an entry permit system, “once identities are verified,” a joint statement says. Both Singh and Kasuri on Wednesday praised the improved relations that have resulted so far from the peace dialogue. “We have noted with satisfaction the overall improvements in atmospherics between the two countries. We have taken positive steps that auger well for the future of bilateral relations. We are strongly committed to carrying forward the composite dialogue process to make it productive and fruitful,” Kasuri said. “I am convinced that cooperation between our two countries is not just a desirable objective; it is an imperative,” Singh said. “My visit has reinforced in me the determination to continue working for expanding cooperation and understanding between our two countries. The people of both our countries clearly desire it.”
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