Krishna to visit Pak on July 15

New Delhi/Islamabad, May 11 (PTI) India's External
Affairs Minister S M Krishna will visit Islamabad on July 15
for talks with his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi
to work out the modalities for carrying forward the dialogue
process to discuss outstanding issues in an atmosphere of
mutual trust.
After a 25-minute telephonic conversation between the
two ministers, Krishna told reporters that Qureshi had invited
him to visit Islamabad on July 15 and he looked forward to the
talks.
"The Foreign Minister of Pakistan has invited me to
visit Islamabad on July 15. So I am planning to visit
Islamabad for my talks with Foreign Minister Qureshi," he
said.
"I am looking forward to these talks and let us hope
that these talks will help in bringing our countries closer
together and bringing between the two countries the cordiality
we desire and let us hope that our efforts will be fruitful,"
he said.
Krishna said he and Qureshi will work out the
methodology to carry forward the dialogue between the two
countries so that all outstanding issues could be discussed in
an atmosphere of "mutual trust".
He said the Prime Ministers of both the countries had
after their meeting in Thimpu last month asked the Foreign
Ministers and Foreign Secretaries to meet as soon as possible
and discuss ways to reduce "trust deficit".
On Thursday, Krishna had said in Rajya Sabha (Upper
House of Indian Parliament) that India had decided to have a
dialogue as there has been a "transformation" in ties with
assurance coming at the level of Pakistan Prime Minister that
India's "core concern" with regard to terrorism would be
addressed adequately.
In Islamabad, Qureshi Tuesday made it clear that the
two sides were going into the talks with an open mind and
positive approach without having any false hopes.
"I will not create any false hopes. I am an optimist
yet a realist. I recognise the challenges, I recognise the
difficulties. I recognise the trust deficit. It is an uphill
task.
"Don't expect miracles overnight. Good thing is that
on both sides we have democracies and democracies believe in
negotiations, talks and parleys," he said adding "we had a
very good discussion and we will build on it. There is no
quick fixes."
His response came on being asked about the two sides
reportedly having come close to a deal on issues related to
Siachen and Sir Creek during the earlier dialogue process.
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