New Delhi and Islamabad are expected to sign four confidence building agreements during Mukherjee’s first official visit to Pakistan.
LAHORE: Besides finalising tentative dates for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Pakistan, New Delhi and Islamabad are expected to sign four confidence building agreements during External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s first official visit to Pakistan, starting on January 13.
According to sources, the foreign ministers are expected to finalise a key agreement on reducing the risk of nuclear accidents or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons which had been under discussion since August 2005. They added that the two sides had finalised the agreement during the foreign secretary-level talks in New Delhi in November 2006. The other three agreements that are almost finalised and expected to be signed by the two sides relate to revised visa regime, speedy repatriation of inadvertent border-crossers and quarterly flag meetings between the Indo-Pak sector commanders at the Line of Control.
The sources also said that Mukherjee is most likely to finalise with the help of his Pakistan counterpart the tentative dates for Manmohan Singh’s proposed visit to Pakistan that many believe would be a major confidence-building measure. Mukherjee will lead an eight-member delegation to discuss with Pakistani officials the vital issues of peace and security as well as the lingering dispute of Jammu & Kashmir. The delegation will comprise Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Iran & Afghanistan) Dilip Sinha, Joint Secretary, Saarc, and the ministry’s spokesperson Navtej Sarna.
The sources said during Mukherjee’s meeting with Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, detailed discussions would be held on the Siachen issue as well as trade, trans-Kashmir truck service, terrorism, issue of prisoners and re-opening of consulates in Mumbai and Karachi. Mukherjee will call on Musharraf and extend an invitation to him to attend the 14th Saarc Summit being hosted by India in April. He will also call on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
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