Saran in Pakistan today, to take dialogue forward

In this context, the idea of reviving the Joint Commission will be discussed at length given that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is slated to meet Musharraf on the margins of the UNGA in New York on September 14. The Commission met last 16 years back in July 1989.

The Joint Commission is supposed to be headed by the Foreign Ministers of both sides and has four sub-commissions covering different areas like economic affairs, trade, culture and education, as well as visa and consular affairs.

However, Islamabad is expected to stress the lack of progress in finding a solution to the Siachen and Sir Creek issues. Here again, Singh and Musharraf had agreed to move expeditiously in resolving the matter but the subsequent official-level meetings achieved no breakthrough.

On the positive side, India and Pakistan have agreed to a draft agreement on prior notification of missile tests as well as set a timeframe for operationalising the hotline between the two foreign secretaries. The agreement is expected to be approved in the upcoming meeting and would possibly be signed when the Foreign Ministers meet in early October.

Meanwhile, both sides are looking to operationalise the Amritsar-Lahore bus at the earliest, and a trial run is expected sometime this month. Also, efforts are on to find dates for holding technical talks on air links and shipping so as to help normalise trade relations.