India And Pakistan Sign Agreement On Missile Tests, page 1

India and Pakistan, which have often staged tit-for-tat missile tests that raise regional tensions, signed a deal Monday requiring them to notify each other of plans for ballistic missile tests, a key step in the peace process between the two nuclear-armed rivals. India warned, however, that militant attacks in Kashmir could derail the thaw in relations.

www.usatoday.com
Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Khursheed Kasuri, announced the ballistic missile test agreement following talks they described as cordial and constructive. Groundwork for the deal was laid in talks in the Indian capital of New Delhi last month.

"The agreement entails that both countries provide each other advance notification of flight tests that it intends to undertake of any surface-to-surface ballistic missile," India said in a statement.

"India has now handed over a draft memorandum of understanding on measures to reduce the risks of accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons under the control of both countries," the statement said.

India also said the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding that would establish a hotline between their coast guards. Such a communication link could speed up the repatriation of fishermen from both countries who often stray across the border in the Arabian Sea.

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This is yet more good news coming from these two countries.

Just a few years ago nuclear war looked a real possibility between these two nations and now they are really trying to keep the peace it has taken them so long to find!

[edit on 9-10-2005 by asala]