Describing the agreement on nuclear confidence building measures as "significant progress", Pakistan on Sunday said there has been a "thaw" with India but felt it was "too early" for summit-level meetings between prime ministers of the two countries.
"There is progress. There has been a thaw. There has been an understanding and movement towards dialogue and confidence building and constructive and consistent engagement," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan told a group of reporters in Islamabad.
Asked whether any summit meeting was planned, he said, "It is too early."
Terming the joint statement issued by the two sides as "significant progress", he said strategic stability and nuclear risk reduction measures were discussed.
"There is a clarity of policy," said Khan, who is also in charge of the UN desk in the foreign office and was part of the two-day deliberations on Nuclear Confidence Building Measures.
He said there was some degree of uncertainty on the status of the dialogue process due to the political transition in India. "That has been removed because of the assurances and statements given by the Indian Government. We are on schedule," he said.
Asked about India differing with Pakistan's proposals for strategic restraint regime and 'No-war pact' and whether these issues figured during the parleys, he said, "We are meeting after a long time. So, there was a general exchange of views on security concepts and nuclear doctrines."
Asked whether External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh's suggestion for a common nuclear doctrine figured during the parleys, Khan said, "There was a general exchange of views on all issues."
He said the leader of the Pakistani delegation Tariq Osman Hyder had called on Singh and 'all dimensions were covered and all issues were discussed but there was no specific focus on this proposal'.
On whether Pakistan's demand for a cap on the number of missiles and warheads came up during the talks, he said, "Yes, in a general sense but we are moving step-by-step."
"It is an incremental approach," he said, adding the areas being focussed by both sides was implementation of whatever has been agreed. "That is the spirit."
About the Indian draft agreement outlining technical parameters on pre-notification of flight testing of missiles handed over to Pakistan yesterday, Khan said under the 1999 Memorandum of Understanding, the two sides had agreed to notify each on test firing of ballistic missiles. Both sides were informing each other in this regard.
"But we have to formalise this arrangement. That is why both sides are keen to finalise an agreement. This is in pursuit of what has been done in Lahore," he said, adding the Pakistan side was looking at the text of detailed Indian draft and preliminary exchange of views have taken place with their interlocutors.
To a question whether India's proposal of 'no first use' was discussed, he said, "We will continue to meet and we will continue to discuss all issues. India says no first use. We have been saying no use of force. At one point, we talked about no war pact or non-aggression pact.
"But the spirit right now in the nuclear realm is to transcend bizarre rhetoric and do something substantive and concrete. That is the intent of the delegations that met here and that is the intent of the Governments of India and Pakistan," he said.
Khan said there had earlier also been talk about summit-level meetings. That would be a good thing. Pakistan has been for talks at all levels. But he made it clear that no such meeting was being contemplated as of now. "Not yet. It is too soon."
When reminded that certain elements of the Lahore MoU were there in the joint statement, he said the 1999 accord was only being "implemented partially" and needed to be fully put into operation and not just remain on paper.
On how Pakistan viewed the overall progress in Indo-Pak relations, he said last year two parallel processes of CBMs and dialogue were started. "But we were not successful till December in starting the dialogue process."
Khan said after the broad agreement between Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in January this year, Foreign Secretaries of the two countries had in February drawn up a calendar of activities, which was now in progress.
Khan said Foreign Secretaries of the two countries would be meeting on June 27-28 when they will address issues relating to peace and security including CBMs and Jammu and Kashmir.
"Then, we also expect talks on other agenda items. This process should culminate in a meeting of Foreign Ministers of the two countries in August," he said.
He said Singh and Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri would also be meeting on the sidelines of the SAARC Foreign Minister's meeting in Islamabad in July.
Singh and Kasuri will have their first meeting tomorrow in China on the sidelines of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue.
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