India, Pak sign border forces pact

India and Pakistan on Thursday signed a nine-point agreement to enhance cooperation between their border forces, including joint efforts to check trans-border crimes and strengthening of patrolling and surveillance to prevent illegal crossing.

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However, Islamabad stuck to its long-standing policy of calling the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir a
"working boundary,"

The agreement was signed at the conclusion of the four-day talks between a Border Security Force delegation led by Additional DGP A K Mitra and a team of Pakistan Rangers led by Maj Gen Javed Zia.

Officials of Survey of India and Survey of Pakistan also attended the meeting.

Mitra, addressing a press conference with Zia, said the two sides had agreed on joint efforts to check trans-border crimes, especially drug smuggling and to exchange lists of smugglers and facilitate return of inadvertent border crossers
after verification in shortest possible time.

"Our stand is clear that the common border between the two countries in the state other than the LoC is working boundry," said Zia, who left the joint conference in a huff when asked about continuing cross-border infiltration.