Siachen, Sir Creek may figure in Natwar talks with Pak

India had gone to New York all set to explore options with Pakistan on the issues of Siachen and Sir Creek, but Pakistan President Pervez Mu...

India had gone to New York all set to explore options with Pakistan on the issues of Siachen and Sir Creek, but Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was not in the mood to deviate from the Kashmir issue. Almost three weeks later, New Delhi will look to broach the topic once again through External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh who is likely to meet Musharraf on Tuesday.

The two countries had agreed during Musharraf’s visit to Delhi in April to expeditiously work towards the resolution of these two issues. However, there was not much progress in the talks that followed between the two defence secretaries. While India still maintains the need to authenticate current troop positions prior to redeployment, sources said, New Delhi can show flexibility on the method of verification as long as it is recognized by both sides.

Musharraf plans to meet Natwar at his Camp Office in Rawalpindi on Tuesday morning, though a final confirmation on the time is still awaited. The meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who is still to return from visit to South Korea, will follow.

Story continues below this ad

The External Affairs Minister reached here this evening and on arrival said the frequency of high-level visits was itself ‘‘reflective of the positive momentum’’ of bilateral relations. He pointed out that there was an ‘‘overwhelming desire’’ among the people on both sides for friendly relations between the two countries.

Natwar recalled the commitment at New York after the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Musharraf to carry forward the peace process and hoped that his meeting with Pakistani counterpart Khurshid M Kasuri will provide an impetus to increase cooperation.

Foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will be signing the agreement on pre-notification of missile tests in the presence of the two ministers on Monday. The agreement requires the two countries to notify each other of ballistic missile tests 72 hours in advance. It also calls for pre-notification missile launch sites located 40 km either side of the LoC and the international border.

In this context, India had also proposed an agreement on nuclear risk reduction measures. Both sides will discuss this during the review of the second round of the composite dialogue on Monday.

Story continues below this ad

Another agreement to be signed will be on establishing a communication link between the Indian Coast guard and the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency.

On Tuesday, India and Pakistan will have the first meeting of the joint commission in 16 years. The External Affairs Minister has brought with him representatives of five ministries—Home, Telecom, Information & Broadcasting, Tourism and Commerce—to ensure a positive start to the meeting.

CID to probe Zubeen Garg’s death after complaint names his manager, festival organiser

India35 min ago

As Assam awaits the return of its superstar icon Zubeen Garg’s body after he died in Singapore, where he was for the North East India Festival, on Friday, the state government has decided to transfer the investigation to the CID following complaints against festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta and his manager Siddharth Sharma.

View all shorts

Live Blog