Wednesday, 26 March 2014

India, Pakistan's DGMOs meet at Wagah-Attari border

Islamabad:  The much anticipated meeting between Director Generals Military Operations (DGMO) of India and Pakistan took place today along the Wagah-Attari border to work out a mechanism to ease tension and ensure peace at the Line of Control (LoC).

The Indian side was led by Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia while Major General Aamer Riaz headed the Pakistani side.

A Brigadier and three Lieutenant Colonels from each side also participated in the talks.

Official sources in Islamabad said that the meeting was scheduled to take place on the 'No Man's Land' at the Wagah-Attari border.

Pakistan military in a statement said that the decision for holding meeting between Pakistan and Indian DGMOs was taken on a political level.

The DGMOs discussed issues pertaining to tension on the LoC and other related issues on the working boundary with a focus to maintain ceasefire and bring normalcy.

The DGMOs of the two nations met for the first time in 14 years. They last met in 1999 after the Kargil war.

India was expected to forcefully convey to Pakistan the importance of maintaining ceasefire at the LoC.

Pakistani media reports had said Islamabad was expected to seek a bigger role for UN military observers deployed along the Line of Control.

United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) was established in 1949 under the resolution passed by the world body's Security Council to supervise ceasefire along the LoC.

The meeting comes three months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif proposed this meeting to defuse tensions.

Pakistan had initially proposed to include the Foreign Ministry officials in the meeting of senior military officials but India had rejected it.

However, Pakistan Foreign Office had said last week, "For the time being, this meeting will be between the DGMOs but our proposal is still on the table".

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