Shashank (left) and Riaz Khokhar

Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar met for six hours June 27 and 28 with his Indian counterpart, Shashank, who uses one name, in New Delhi.

The disputed Himalayan region has triggered two full-scale wars and a 1999 border clash between the South Asian rivals.

In a series of new confidence-building steps, the two countries will work toward an agreement to notify each other before testing missiles. This follows an accord June 20 to set up a hot line to prevent accidental nuclear war.

They will open consulates in each other's country, in Karachi and Bombay, and restore their embassies to full strength. The embassy staffs were reduced after a December 2001 attack on India's Parliament led to a break in diplomatic relations and the cutting of all transportation links.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 3, 2004
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