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Pakistan-India working group on LoC CBMs set to resume after 18 months

Pakistani delegation will be led by Director General (South Asia) Ministry of Foreign Affairs Riffat Masood.

Web Desk March 03, 2014

JWG is expected to discuss ways and means to further streamline and improve the modalities regarding trade across the LoC and CBMs. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: After a lapse of one-and-a-half years, the Pakistan-India Joint Working Group (JWG) will resume in New Delhi on Tuesday, to review the current status of the confidence building measures (CBM), and to improve the modalities regarding trade across the Line of Control (LoC), a Foreign Office communiqué said on Monday.

The press note said that the Pakistan-India Joint Working Group (JWG) on Cross-LoC confidence building measures (CBMs) will be held in New Delhi on March 4, 2014.

Pakistani delegation will be led by Director General (South Asia) Ministry of Foreign Affairs Riffat Masood, while the Indian side will be headed by Joint Secretary (PAI) Ministry of External Affairs Rudrendra Tandon.

The resumption of the JWG had been decided in a meeting between Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry and Indian High Commissioner Dr TCA Raghavan on January 25.

The JWG is expected to discuss ways and means to further streamline and improve the modalities regarding trade across the LoC. Following the alleged discovery of some narcotics in one of the trucks from the AJK side on January 15, trade and travel across the LoC had been suspended. It was not resumed for nearly three weeks.

The last meeting was held in July 2012 in Islamabad. Hence, the Tuesday meeting will also review the current status of the CBMs that are in place and give its recommendations.