November 26, 2003	Wednesday	Shawwal 1, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 25: A ceasefire between India and Pakistan on the Line of Control, Working Boundary, and Line of Actual Contact in Siachen became effective from Tuesday midnight.

Modalities for giving effect to the truce were worked out after a hotline contact between the Director General Military Operations (DGMOs) of Pakistan and India earlier in the day.

Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan, the Director General ISPR, told Dawn that the ceasefire on the LoC, Working Boundary and Line of Actual Contact in Siachen went into effect from Tuesday midnight.

He expressed the hope that it would lead to normalization of relations and initiation of dialogue between the two countries.

The DGMOs of the two countries would be in regular contact, once a week, and if need arose, they could talk more.

Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said in a statement that the ceasefire decision was taken by Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Pakistan was glad that India had responded positively to this proposal.

The FO spokesman said: “We hope that the ceasefire will prove to be a good beginning for confidence building and resumption of dialogue between Pakistan and India”.

He said the move would help stabilize the situation and stressed that “the most important thing is that we should move towards the resolutions of all differences between Pakistan and India, including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Jawed Naqvi adds from New Delhi: An official of the European Union’s mission in New Delhi lauded the move for ceasefire but he denied that the peace moves were linked to a summit meeting between EU and India later this week.

“This process took a little longer than was perhaps expected after the Srinagar overture of April,” the official told Dawn, referring to the Indian prime minister’s offer of hand of friendship.

“Probably it took its time because both sides wanted to check out each other’s intentions.”

An Indian foreign ministry spokesman said the ceasefire decision was taken by the DGMOs of the two countries in the course of their weekly conversation on their hotline on Tuesday.

They “agreed to observe a ceasefire with effect from midnight tonight along the international border, LoC and Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL) in Jammu and Kashmir,” the spokesman said.

Describing Pakistan’s decision to observe ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) as “encouraging”, India’s outgoing Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal also said on Tuesday that New Delhi was looking for a dialogue with it but made it clear that Islamabad has to “perform” on keeping its promise to end alleged cross-border infiltration.

“We are looking for a dialogue with Pakistan. It is in Pakistan’s hands. They are the ones who have to perform (to stop cross-border infiltration). They have made a commitment (in this regard) to the US,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit here.

Replying to questions on the ceasefire issue, Mr Sibal said: “We welcome Pakistan’s positive response but cross-border terrorism has to stop to allow the ceasefire to hold. I think what the Pakistan side has said is encouraging”.

Agencies add: The armies, which exchange fire nearly every day, were to cease fire from 1830 GMT — midnight Indian time — and 11.30pm in Pakistan, according to the Indian foreign ministry statement.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is expected to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in January.

India and Pakistan last agreed to a Kashmir ceasefire in 2000, paving the way for talks between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Vajpayee in the Indian city of Agra in 2001. But those talks ended in failure.

New Delhi has so far ruled out direct talks between Vajpayee and Pakistani leaders during the Saarc summit.

Police on Tuesday said exchanges of fire had decreased overnight, with only small skirmishes reported in the Rajouri and Jammu districts of southern Kashmir.

No casualties were reported.