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| 28 June 2004 | Monday | 09 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425 |
Khokhar to cut short India visit
NEW DELHI, June 27: Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar will cut short his visit to New Delhi to assist in preparations for Pakistan's representation at the ARF meeting in Jakarta.
The sources said Mr Khokhar would leave for Islamabad on Monday evening. He was scheduled to visit the Taj Mahal on Tuesday.
Scheduled calls on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Foreign Minister Kunwar Natwar Singh and National Security Advisor Jyotindra Nath Dixit on Monday were being compressed to facilitate his departure.
Mr Khokhar's early return has been prompted by uncertainty whether Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri would stay in the new cabinet and if he or someone else would represent Pakistan at the ARF meeting on July 2. In the absence of a clear decision, Mr Khokhar may have to stand in.
The foreign ministers of Pakistan and India were expected to meet in Jakarta for a second time in less than a fortnight after their encounter in Qingdao in China. But for now all that remains uncertain.
Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan had earlier told journalists in New Delhi that the change in the government in Islamabad had had no effect on the foreign secretaries' talks.
"The recent change in the government in New Delhi, too, has had no effect on the Pakistan-India dialogue," he said.- J.N.
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