NEW DELHI, Jan 30: Indian and Pakistani coastguards are fine-tuning an accord for a second hotline to exchange information, including on fishermen straying into each other's territorial waters, officials said here on Friday.

They said the ongoing discussions were part of steps to restore trust in each other. "We have exchanged a number of papers on the draft memorandum of understanding (MoU)," said Vice-Admiral Sureesh Mehta, chief of Indian coastguards in New Delhi.

The official said the draft agreement was likely to figure in talks when representatives from the two nuclear-armed countries meet from Feb 16-18 to resume a bilateral dialogue that stalled two years ago amid rising tensions.

"Apart from establishing communication links between the Indian coastguard headquarters in New Delhi and Pakistan Maritime Agency at Karachi, the MoU will also cover joint measures to check sea pollution and exchange of information on violations by fishing boats from either country," he said.

It would also help more expeditiously sort out the issue of fishermen straying innocently into each other's territorial waters, he said. "We may later graduate to face-to-face meetings also," Mr Mehta told reporters and outlined a planned coastguard drive to beef up security in India's coastal belt to check a flourishing trade in arms smuggling.-AFP