NEW DELHI, Dec 14: India and Pakistan exchanged memorandums on plans to combat drug trafficking via the notorious "Golden Crescent" region and plan to meet again in June 2005 on the issue, the Indian government said on Tuesday

Indian and Pakistani drug control officials held two days of talks in New Delhi as part of the peace plan called "composite dialogue". The talks focussed on how to crack down on opium from Afghanistan that is smuggled into Pakistan and Iran - the two other nations of the "Golden Crescent" - and also into India, Major-General Nadeem Ahmed, director-general of Pakistan's anti-narcotics force, told Press Trust of India on Monday.

Afghanistan's record opium production this year - more than 1,31,000 hectares (3,23,570 acres) - was a cause of concern, Mr Ahmed said. The Pakistani delegation met Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Monday to discuss plans for information and intelligence sharing, sting operations and mutual legal assistance to curb the nefarious trade.

The talks form part of the second round of the composite dialogue aimed at resolving eight problem areas between the two nuclear rivals including the core dispute of Kashmir. -AFP