India and Pakistan began a second day of talks Wednesday, hoping to agree on confidence-building steps that would safeguard against an accidental war. Senior officials meeting in Islamabad are negotiating terms of an agreement on notifying each other in advance about missile tests conducted periodically by both countries. It is the second time since June that the two sides have met to discuss their nuclear weapons, and is part of a broader peace process aimed at resolving five decades of tensions that have triggered three wars between the South Asian neighbors. "The talks are being held in a positive and businesslike manner. Both sides desire to move forward the nuclear confidence-building measures," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said ahead of Wednesday's session. The two sides were expected to issue a joint statement when the talks are completed later in the day, officials said. Also Wednesday, officials are beginning another two-day meeting on conventional weapons, Khan said. He gave no details. Meanwhile, senior military officials of the two countries held a second and final day of talks on a border dispute in Sir Creek marshlands, between India's western Gujarat state and Pakistan's southern Sindh province. After the negotiations in Rawalpindi, a city near Islamabad, the two sides agreed to start a joint survey of boundary markers Jan. 3, a Pakistani Foreign Ministry statement said.
