India and Pakistan have established a new hotline between their foreign ministries to alert each other of potential nuclear accidents or threats. In a joint statement at the conclusion of two days of talks in New Delhi, officials said on Sunday the dedicated secure hotline was intended to "prevent misunderstandings and reduce risks relevant to nuclear issues." The joint statement said an existing hotline between director generals of military operations in both countries also would be upgraded and secured. Experts from both sides, which have gone to war three times since independence from Britain in 1947, also reaffirmed their moratorium on conducting further nuclear tests, "unless, in exercise of national sovereignty, it decides that extraordinary events have jeopardized its supreme interests." India and Pakistan carried out nuclear tests in May 1998, provoking military and economic sanctions by the United States and its allies. **Early steps*** The talks are only the first stage in the nuclear dialogue. A meeting on Saturday was led by top foreign ministry officials, Sheel Kant Sharma from India and Tariq Usman Haider of Pakistan. The joint statement also said India and Pakistan would work toward concluding an agreement with "technical parameters on pre-notification of flight testing of missiles, a draft of which was handed over by the Indian side." Currently, the two countries have conflicting nuclear policies. **Agreement*** In February 1999, former Indian Prime Minister Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, where the two sides signed a preliminary agreement to pursue a reduction of nuclear risks through a series of confidence-building steps. These included advance notification of missile tests, an agreement both sides have adhered to. But plans to hold further nuclear talks were thwarted as relations deteriorated after an attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan's spy agency and Pakistan-based groups. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Pakistan's Acting Foreign Secretary Tariq Osman Hyder (C) and Pakistan's Ambassador to India Aziz Ahmed (L) speak to India's Foreign Minister Natwar Singh at the latter's office in New Delhi in this June 19, 2004 file photo. (Reuters)