OTTAWA, July 13, 2011— An ongoing dialogue known as the “Ottawa Dialogue” has resulted in the adoption of an ambitious list of nuclear confidence-building measures (CBMs). The Ottawa Dialogue is a distinguished group of academics and retired senior officials and military officers from India and Pakistan.
It is led by Peter Jones, a professor from the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
The list of recommended CBMs was adopted at a meeting at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution in Palo Alto, California, from July 6 to 8, 2011.
The meeting was hosted by former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry also participated in a number of the discussions.
The list includes CBMs that could be implemented to prevent an accidental launch of nuclear weapons and prevent the escalation of conflicts.
The members of the Ottawa Dialogue who signed the list were pleased that high-level official talks on nuclear confidence-building had resumed between India and Pakistan. They have put forth these recommendations in the hopes of assisting the official process.