ISLAMABAD, July 24: The US assistant secretary of state Christina Rocca will accompany the US secretary of state Colin Powell on his peace mission to South Asia that begins on Saturday.

“Rocca will be on the plane with him,” a diplomatic source in the know of the high profile US mission told Dawn on Wednesday.

This will be Powell’s third visit to Pakistan, his last being in January this year. Rocca who is the assistant secretary of state for South Asian Affairs has visited Pakistan several times.

Powell will arrive in Islamabad on Sunday after holding talks with leaders in India, well-placed sources said, adding that it will be just a day trip.

During his day-long visit here Powell and members of his high-powered delegation will hold talks with President Gen Pervez Musharraf, minister of state for foreign affairs Inamul Haq and other senior Pakistani officials.

Before his departure the US secretary of state Colin Powell will hold a news conference, the venue of which is still undecided. However, it is not yet clear whether it would be a joint one.

Sources said Powell’s 50-member entourage will comprise some top US officials of whom Rocca is the most well-known in Pakistan. “Whenever Powell is on a mission this is the standard size of his entourage that includes security personnel, his staff and media representatives,” a senior US embassy official told Dawn.

After his meetings in Pakistan Powell will leave for Bangkok.

Pakistan has welcomed Powell’s upcoming visit to the region to defuse rising tensions with its nuclear-armed rival.

“We have worked very hard to keep this thing from blowing up, boiling over on us,” Powell said at a recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. Officials at the ministry of foreign affairs hope that the latest US diplomatic mission would help bring India to the negotiating table for a dialogue on Kashmir.