India, Pakistan exchange nuclear data

India and Pakistan have exchanged lists of nuclear installations despite growing tension between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, officials say.

According to Pakistan’s foreign ministry, the two sides exchanged lists of their respective nuclear installations Saturday morning.

“The government of Pakistan and India today exchanged lists of their respective nuclear installations and facilities in accordance with Article-II of the Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities between Pakistan and India of Dec. 31, 1988,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The exchange of list between the two South Asian rivals comes on the first day of the New Year under the agreement, which did not come into force until January 1991.

India and Pakistan have occasionally tested conventional and unconventional weapons over the past years.

New Delhi conducted its first nuclear test in 1974, followed by five more in 1998. Islamabad conducted its six nuclear tests in 1998.

India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars, two over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir, routinely carry out missile tests but normally notify each other in advance under an agreement.

Both neighbors have refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and other treaties that restrict the development or testing of nuclear weapons.

The developments come as relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors have soured since the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

India has says that Pakistani-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militants are responsible for the attacks and demanded Islamabad to take action for what it says is the latest anti-India attack launched from Pakistani soil.

Pakistan has rejected the involvement of its government in the attacks, saying that “non-state actors” were involved in the incident.

India and Pakistan have been locked in a tense rivalry since they gained independence from Britain in 1947.