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India, Pakistan Sign Pact on Nuclear Weapons Security
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1657764:A6F02AD83191E160BC742D36CB50AAF39574F7DCC14957C0 Foreign ministers
met in New Delhi days after deadly attack on cross-border train

India and Pakistan have signed a pact on nuclear weapons security and
pledged their renewed commitment to a peace process. As Anjana
Pasricha reports from New Delhi, the foreign ministers of the two
countries met in the Indian capital days after a deadly attack on a
cross border train between the neighbors.







Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri, left, and his Indian
counterpart Pranab Mukherjee smile before signing of an agreement
after a meeting in New Delhi, 21 Feb. 2007The pact on cutting the risk
of a nuclear arms accident in the region was signed at the end of
talks between Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his
Pakistani counterpart, Khursheed Kasuri, on Wednesday.

Officials say the pact includes confidence-building measures related
to their nuclear arsenals. Both countries tested nuclear weapons in
1998.

The meeting between the Indian and Pakistani ministers had been
scheduled to improve trust and review a peace process, centered on the
two countries' rival claims to Kashmir.

But on Wednesday, the focus moved to the deadly blasts that killed 68
people on Sunday midnight as they tore through a train traveling from
Delhi to the Pakistani city of Lahore. Many Pakistanis were among the
victims.







A policeman investigates inside one of the burnt compartments of
Samjhauta Express after fire raked through it as it was traveling to
Pakistan, at Deewana village in India, 19 Feb 2007India's Mukherjee
said the attack had strengthened the resolve of both countries to
persevere with the peace process that began three years ago.

"Government of India will make every effort to bring to justice the
perpetrators of this heinous act," he said. "The holding of the joint
commission meeting as scheduled is a reaffirmation of the commitment
of both India and Pakistan to the dialogue process."

Pakistan's Kasuri also stressed the need for the neighbors to work
more closely.

"There are no words strong enough to condemn this act of heinous
crime. Of course it has underlined the need for cooperation," he said.

India says it will share the results of the investigation into the
train attack with Pakistan.

Political observers say the new spirit of cooperation between the
rivals is in marked contrast to the past, when similar terror attacks
in India have raised tensions between them. Bomb blasts on commuter
trains in Mumbai last July for example put the peace process on hold
for four months after New Delhi blamed Pakistan-based Islamic militant
groups for the attacks.

The peace process has been moving slowly and a breakthrough on their
key dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir is nowhere in sight.
But relations between the neighbors have improved considerably.

Pakistan and India also say they will hold fresh talks on withdrawing
troops from a strategic glacier in Kashmir, described as the world's
highest battlefield.


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