January 4, 2003	Saturday	Shawwal 30, 1423

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NEW DELHI, Jan 3: Senior US official Richard Haass will be in New Delhi this month to discuss Pakistan-India ties and the situation in the Middle East, Star News said on Friday.

The Star News said Haass, US State Department’s Director of Policy Planning, will embark on a New Delhi, Hyderabad, Dubai and Abu Dhabi tour from Jan 6.

It quoted State Department spokesman Richard Boucher as saying that Haass would address the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in Hyderabad.

Asked who had invited Haass — the Government of India or the CII, Boucher said: “I don’t know where the invitation came from. I’m sure he is always welcome. Certainly, in our discussions previously with the Government of India, they have told us they would welcome these kind of policy planning discussions with our head policy planner”.

During his visit to New Delhi in October, Haass said the decision by India and Pakistan to demobilise troops from their common borders — massed there since an attack on India’s parliament last December — had given a “breathing space” for the two sides to move forward towards normalisation of ties.

He warned that Washington had “no specific game plan” for New Delhi and Islamabad to work on, adding “the time is not ripe for ambitious diplomacy” or “top down solutions” to resolve outstanding issues.

Diplomats said the bristling verbal duel that continues to shadow India-Pakistan ties would engage the envoy’s attention when he meets senior Indian officials during the visit.