May 8, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 5, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, May 7: The acting high commissioner of India, T.C.A Raghavan, on Wednesday handed over documents seeking an agreement for appointment of a new high commissioner to the foreign office officials here on Wednesday, sources told Dawn.

The sources said New Delhi had nominated a senior career diplomat Shiv Shankar Menon for the key diplomatic posting. Mr Shanker is currently India’s ambassador to China and has also served as ambassador in Sri Lanka. He is reputed to be a seasoned diplomat.

The move, seen as the one that could expedite normalization of diplomatic ties between the two countries, comes a day after Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali’s announcement of confidence-building measures with India.

Under an agreement between Pakistan and India, all such appointments are to be cleared within one month. However, officials said in this case Pakistan was likely to move fast and it could be cleared “fairly soon.”

Qualifying “fairly soon” one official said: “It could be within one week.”

Pakistan will also be shortly seeking an agreement for its new high commissioner in New Delhi, the officials said.

Currently, names of serving and former career diplomats are being considered in Islamabad. A political appointment for the prized posting is unlikely, the sources said.

India unilaterally downgraded diplomatic ties with Pakistan in January 2002. It recalled its high commissioner from Islamabad and cut down the mission’s strength to 50 per cent after an armed attack on its parliament for which it blamed Pakistan.

Pakistan strongly rejected the charge, but did not withdraw its high commissioner from New Delhi. However, in May 2002 India asked the Pakistani high commissioner to leave.

Meanwhile, unnamed Indian officials were quoted in the Indian press on Wednesday as saying that measures announced by Prime Minister Jamali on Tuesday were “inadequate.”