ISLAMABAD, June 16: India and Pakistan agreed on Wednesday on ways to work together to stop cross-border drug smuggling, notching another step forward in confidence building between the South Asian rivals.

India's top anti-narcotics enforcer hailed the talks in Islamabad, the first after seven-year hiatus, as a success. "The agenda was mainly trafficking of illicit narcotics drugs across the border from both the sides and we had a very good meeting," M.K. Singh, Director-General, Narcotics Control Board of India, told reporters at the end of the two days of talks.

"We identified the problems and also reached to certain conclusions, how to go about it, how to handle our future operations. It was a successful meeting." It remains to be seen whether the two governments can strike a similar upbeat note when their foreign secretaries meet in New Delhi at the end of this month to discuss their dispute over Kashmir and ways to avoid using nuclear arms against each other.

It will be the first high-level talks between the two nuclear rivals since the Congress Party formed a government in New Delhi, following an election win over former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's Hindu nationalists.

Khalid Latif, top official at the Ministry of Narcotics Control in Pakistan, said agencies from both sides had agreed to meet regularly and exchange and share information.

"Relations between Pakistan and India are improving and similarly relations between the organizations are improving," Mr Latif said. "This will strengthen our network to break the network of smugglers." -Reuters