Days after the ?brush? between Pakistan Navy ship PNS Babur and India Navy ship INS Godavari in the open seas, which damaged one of the helicopter nets of the Indian ship, the two countries are expected to finalise a draft agreement to prevent such accidents.
At the foreign secretary level talks in the last week of June, India had presented a draft agreement to prevent ?situations at sea? involving vessels of the two countries. The Pakistani side had agreed to examine the document.
The agreement will be part of the confidence building measures (CBMs) between the two neighbours. Two working groups will chalk out CBM proposals on expanding trade and travel facilities along the Line of Control (LoC) and on mutual nuclear safety.
Besides CBMs, the two sides are engaged in intense negotiations for an agreement on liberalising the visa regime, likely to be cleared during the coming meeting between the foreign ministers.
Ahead of the July 27 meeting between foreign minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart in New Delhi, foreign secretaries Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir will meet here to have preparatory discussions before the talks.
