31 July 2004	Saturday	13 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

ISLAMABAD, July 30: Bureaucrats involved in the ongoing composite dialogue will brief President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Saturday about all issues related to India-Pakistan ties, Dawn learnt on Friday.

Secretaries of the ministries of foreign affairs, interior, defence, commerce, water and power, and culture will attend the meeting convened by the president, said sources. The foreign office team will also attend it.

Prime Minister Shujat Hussain is also expected to attend the meeting. "The secretaries of all ministries involved in the composite dialogue will make detailed presentations at the meeting on Saturday, likely to be held at the president's camp office in Rawalpindi," sources said.

This is the first time that the president has sought this kind of presentation. It conveys the importance the government is attaching to the dialogue process initiated after the Jan 5 meeting between President Musharraf and the then Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the sidelines of the Saarc Summit in Islamabad.

Officials here said it would be a 'very important session' pointing out that all eight subjects included in the composite dialogue framework agreed to by the foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India here in February will be discussed at the Saturday meeting.

The subjects covered under the composite dialogue framework are: Peace and security, Jammu and Kashmir, Wullar Barrage, promotion of friendly exchanges, Siachen, Sir Creek, terrorism and drug trafficking, and economic and commercial cooperation.

Pakistan and India have already discussed peace and security, Kashmir, and Wullar Barrage. Talks on the other six subjects are scheduled for next month.

The foreign ministers of the two countries will meet in New Delhi on Sept 5-6 to review overall progress on the composite dialogue process. This would be preceded by a one-day meeting of the foreign secretaries on Sept 4.