India and Pakistan will hold the next round of expert-level talks on nuclear Confidence- Building Measures (CBMs) here on August 5-6, PTI reported, quoting official sources on Saturday.

The nuclear CBMs talks will be followed by a meeting on conventional CBMs on August 8, the sources said.

During the meeting, the two sides will review the progress made so far in the two rounds held on nuclear CBMs steps to carry them forward. At the August meet, the Pakistani delegation will be led by Tariq Osman Hyder, additional secretary in the foreign office in Islamabad.

Considerable progress was reported at the last round of talks with Pakistan, changing its known stand, said for the first time that South Asia was no longer a nuclear flashpoint.

Both sides have expressed their desire to keep working towards elaboration and implementation of nuclear CBMS, within the agreed framework.

Upgradation of the existing hotlines between Director General of Military Operations (DGMOs) and the establishment of a dedicated and secure hotline between Foreign Secretaries of the two countries are issues that are expected to come up for follow- up action during the meeting.

The two sides held their last discussions on nuclear CBMs in December 2004 in Islamabad. However, the meeting had failed to get any breakthrough on the conventional weapons front.

Source: Xinhua