Indo-Pak talks on trafficking of drug begins

Major General Nadeem Ahmed (R), Director General of Pakistan Anti Narcotics Force, poses for photographers as he shakes hands with his Indian counterpart Madhur Kumar Singh (C) while Pakistani Ministry of Narcotics Control Secretary Khalid Latif (L) looks on during a break of a meeting on drug trafficking and smuggling, in Islamabad yesterday. Pakistan and India have started bilateral talks on combating drug trafficking and smuggling across the common border of the both countries. PHOTO: AFP

The talks are part of the composite dialogue process initiated by the two countries.

The six-member Indian delegation for the two-day talks is headed by NK Singh, Director General of the Narcotics Bureau. The two countries held their first talks on this issue in 1998 and have not met ever since.

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According to news reports, officials of both sides are reportedly upbeat about a positive outcome of the talks given the present thaw in the relations between the countries.

If the talks proceed well, India and Pakistan could cooperate in preventing trafficking of the substances like opium, produced largely in Afghanistan and transited through the region.