Meeting of DGMOs 'positive step forward': Pakistan

Describing the meeting of the Directors General of Military Operationss of the two countries as a "positive step forward", Pakistan on Thursday said better relations with India is a top priority.

"This meeting is a positive step forward," Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said about the December 24 meet between the to address tensions on the Line of Control.

The DGMOs had "agreed on the need to maintain peace and tranquility on the LoC and to stay in touch with each other over (their) hotline", she told reporters during a weekly news briefing.

Military officials would hold regular flag meetings so that "incidents are not allowed to blow up and they are controlled at the local level", she said.

Sartaj Aziz, advisor to the Prime Minister on national security and foreign affairs, separately said that improving relations with India is a top priority.

Positive developments had taken place in the past few months as a result of efforts made by the government, he said. The government is now devising a national security policy to ensure friendly ties with neighbouring countries, he added.            

Aslam said the meeting of the DGMOs, agreed on by Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Nawaz Sharif in September, was held in a cordial atmosphere. The military officials have also been speaking to each other on their hotline.

During their first face-to-face talks in 14 years, the DGMOs agreed to re-energise existing mechanisms to maintain the ceasefire on the LoC.

The DGMOs met months after bilateral ties nosedived over the killing of five Indian soldiers and flare-ups between the two sides on the LoC.