Krishna to visit Pak on July 15; FS on June 26

New Delhi/Islamabad, May 11 (PTI) External Affairs
Minister of India S M Krishna will visit Islamabad on July 15
for talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi
to bridge the trust deficit and work out modalities for
carrying forward the dialogue process.
Prior to this meeting, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao
will meet her counterpart Salman Bashir in Islamabad on June
26 on the sidelines of the SAARC Home Ministers' meeting. She
will accompany Home Minister P Chidambaram for the SAARC meet.
The two Foreign Secretaries will finalise the agenda
for the Krishna-Qureshi meeting.
The decision on the July 15 meeting was taken during a
25-minute telephonic conversation today between Krishna and
Qureshi who described their upcoming talks as "an important
step forward" in bilateral ties.
The Pakistani minister, who made the call, extended the
invitation to Krishna who said 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
told reporters.
"I am looking forward to these talks and let us hope
that these talks will help in bringing our countries closer
together ... 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 that
India had decided to have a dialogue as there had been a
"transformation" in ties with assurance coming at the level of
the Pakistan Prime Minister that India's "core concern" with
regard to terrorism would be addressed adequately.
In Islamabad, Qureshi on Tuesday made it clear that the
two sides were going into the talks with an open mind and
positive approach and asserted that the terror acts will not
be allowed to impede the dialogue process.
"Trust deficit will be bridged by talks during which we
will discuss outstanding issues," he said.
On the prospects of any major breakthrough during the
talks, he said, "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.
MORE PTI SKU
AHM


The information contained in this electronic message and any attachments to this
message are intended for the exclusive
use of the addressee(s) and may contain proprietary, confidential or privileged
information. If you are not the intended
recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please
notify the sender immediately and destroy
all copies of this message and any attachments contained in it.