India-Pakistan Composite Dialogue 2004: A Status Report by N Manoharan

The first round of talks on the Composite Dialogue between India and Pakistan culminated with the Foreign MinistersÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ meeting in New Delhi on 5-6 September 2004. Eight issues viz. CBMs, Kashmir, Wullar Barrage, Promotion of Friendly Exchanges, Siachen, Sir Creek, Terrorism and Drug Trafficking, and Economic and Commercial Cooperation were discussed. The last talks on these issues were held in November 1998 in New Delhi. Both New Delhi and Islamabad were the venues for the latest talks. Their outcome was not dramatic, but there was some progress on CBMs, drug-trafficking, and promotion of friendly exchanges. The chart below provides an overview of the present dialogue process and its review by the two Foreign Ministers.

Date	Venue	Agenda	Level of Interaction	Outcome
27-28 June 2004	New Delhi	Confidence Building Measures and Jammu & Kashmir	India: Shashank, Foreign Secretary Pakistan: Riaz Khokhar, Foreign Secretary	A set of Kashmir-specific proposals on transport links, trade, cultural cooperation, tourism, environment and people-to-people contacts was made by India. Agreed to open consulates in Karachi and Mumbai and restore the strength of the High Commissions to 110 each with immediate effect. Agreed to pre-notify the flight-testing of missiles. Agreed to release each other's fishermen and put in place a mechanism for the return of unintentionally transgressing fishermen and their boats; early release of all civilian prisoners to be worked out. Approved the measures recommended by the expert-level meeting on 19-20 June to discuss nuclear confidence-building measures.
29-30 July 2004	Islamabad	Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project	India: V K Duggal, Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Water Resources. Pakistan: Ashfaq Mahmood, Secretary to the Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Water & Power	Reaffirmed commitment to the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960, Agreed to continue discussions at the next round to find a solution.
3-4 August 2004	New Delhi	Promotion of Friendly Exchanges	India: Neena Ranjan, Secretary, Department of Culture Pakistan: Jalil Abbas, Secretary, Ministry of Minorities, Tourism, Culture and Youth Affairs.	Wide ranging proposals made for promoting friendly exchanges and cooperation in the fields of art, culture, archaeology, education, science and technology, youth affairs and sports, media and tourism. Implementation would be undertaken by mutual coordination. Agreed to address humanitarian issues concerning civilian prisoners and fishermen in each otherÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s custody. Agreed in principle to increase the number of pilgrims and places of religious importance to which citizens of both countries have access.
5-6 August 2004	New Delhi	Demilitarising the Siachen Glacier	India: Ajai Vikram Singh, Defence Secretary Pakistan: Hamid Nawaz Khan, Defence Secretary	Agreed to continue discussions to resolve the issue in a peaceful manner
6-7 August 2004	New Delhi	Demarcation of the international boundary between the two countries in the Sir Creek area.	India: Ranjit Issar Additional Secretary, Ministry of Defence Pakistan: Rear Admiral Ahsan ul Haq Chaudhry, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Defence.	Agreed to continue discussions while reiterating that early resolution of the issue would be in the interest of both countries.
10-11 August 2004.	Islamabad	Terrorism and Drug Trafficking	India: Dhirendra Singh, Home Secretary Pakistan: Tariq Mahmud, Secretary, Ministry of Interior	Determination to combat terrorism and need for its complete elimination reaffirmed. Agreed to work towards an MOU to institutionalize cooperation in information sharing between the Narcotics Control Authorities of the two countries and designate nodal officials in their respective High Commissions to liaise on drug control issues.
11-12 August 2004	Islamabad	Economic and Commercial Cooperation	India: Dipak Chatterji, Commerce Secretary Pakistan: Tasneem Noorani, Commerce Secretary	Wide ranging proposals made on various aspects of Economic and Commercial Cooperation for later consideration.
4 September 2004	New Delhi	Review progress in the Composite Dialogue and report to the Foreign Ministers	India: Shyam Saran, Foreign Secretary Pakistan: Riaz H Khokhar, Foreign Secretary	Agreed that discussions held on eight subjects of Composite Dialogue had been productive and recommended to the Foreign Ministers that the Dialogue should be continued
5-6 September 2004	New Delhi	Review the status of the Composite Dialogue	India: Natwar Singh Foreign Minister Pakistan: Khurshid M Kasuri, Foreign Minister	Agreed to:- a. Continue with the dialogue to find a peaceful negotiated final settlement; b. Expert level meetings on Conventional and Nuclear CBMs, and inter alia discuss the draft agreement on advance notification of missile tests; c. Meeting between railway authorities on the Munnabao - Khokhrapar rail link; d. Biannual meeting between Indian Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers in October 2004; e. Meeting between the Narcotics Control Authorities to finalise an MOU in October/ November 2004; f. Meeting between the Indian Coast Guards and the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency in November 2004 to discuss a Memorandum of Understanding for establishing communication links between them; g. Establishment of a Committee of Experts to consider issues related to trade; h. Implement the outcome of the August 2004 meeting of Defence Secretaries on Siachen; i. Joint Survey of the boundary pillars in the horizontal segment (blue dotted line) of the international boundary in the Sir Creek area; j. Meeting on all issues related to commencement of bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad; k. Add a new category of Tourist Visa between the two countries, and to promote group tourism; l. Set up a mechanism to deal with the issue of civilian prisoners and fishermen effectively and speedily; m. Further measures for facilitation of visits to religious shrines and upkeep of historical sites; n. Enhance interaction and exchanges between the respective Foreign Offices, including study tours of young diplomats/probationers to each otherÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s country. o. Meeting between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York on the margins of UNGA later in September 2004; p. A visit by PakistanÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Prime Minister to India as Chairperson of SAARC; q. A meeting between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan in Dhaka, in January 2005, on the margins of the SAARC Summit. r. A meeting between the two Foreign Secretaries in December 2004 to discuss overall progress in the Composite Dialogue.


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