Pakistan, India swap lists of nuclear sites

Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan exchanged lists of their nuclear sites Sunday in accordance with a 1988 agreement that prohibits the neighboring countries from attacking the locations, officials in Islamabad said.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry confirmed that it turned in its list to the Indian High Commission, and received the same from New Delhi. There was no immediate comment from Indian officials.

Both countries recently returned to talks on conventional and nuclear weapons, Indian officials have said.

No major developments were expected from the high-level talks, which were held in Islamabad last week. The discussions were aimed at building confidence between the two nuclear powers, according to a December statement from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

Dialogue will help the countries understand each other’s nuclear doctrine, Pakistan’s state-run news agency cited foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit as saying.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since the partition of the Asian subcontinent in 1947. Two of them were over Kashmir, which is claimed by both countries.

In 2004, the nations agreed to negotiations that cover eight issues, including Kashmir, terrorism and Pakistan’s concerns over river dams on the Indian side of the border, which it sees as a threat to its water supplies.

Earlier this year, New Delhi and Islamabad agreed to resume peace talks frozen by the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. India blamed Pakistani militants for the strike on its financial capital, which killed more than 160 people.

In July, both nations vowed they would not allow their relationship to slide backward again.

Journalist Wajahat S. Khan contributed to this report.