Islamabad, Dec. 23: India and Pakistan today decided to conduct a fresh joint survey of the disputed Sir Creek, the latest step in the peace process between the South Asian neighbours.

The agreement on the survey of the estuary from January 15 came after two days of technical-level talks in the garrison town of Rawalpindi between hydrographers and defence officials of the two countries.

Pakistan’s surveyor-general, Major General Jamilur Rehman, and India’s chief naval hydrographer, Rear Admiral V.R. Rao, led the two delegations.

“The two countries have agreed to conduct the joint survey in Sir Creek from January 15,” said a joint statement issued in Islamabad this evening.

The joint survey will be the second since January 2005. The two sides have held several rounds of talks on the issue, which surfaced in 1969, but differences persisted and they failed to reach an understanding during the eighth round in May last year.

Sources said next month’s survey, aimed at identifying and demarcating the boundary between Gujarat and Karachi, will be over by the second week of March.

The statement said the talks, the ninth round between the neighbours, discussed at length the “coordinates” for the survey of the 60-mile-long strip of water and adjoining areas “without prejudice to positions of the two countries”.

The discussions also focused on options to delimit the maritime boundary, the statement said, adding that the officials decided to verify the “outermost” parts of the coastlines of both countries “with regard to the equi-distance method”.

The Indian delegation also met defence secretary Tarqi Waseem Ghazi.