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| 04 September 2004 | Saturday | 18 Rajab 1425 |
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Khokhar in Delhi for new round of dialogue
NEW DELHI, Sept 3: Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar arrived here on Friday to set the stage for the first formal talks on the Kashmir dispute between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan.
Indian Foreign Minister Kunwar Natwar Singh and Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri will meet on Sunday and Monday for the first time since Swaran Singh met Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1962-63 at the behest of then US President John Kennedy to resolve the Kashmir dispute.
"We have come with an open mind and we have come with a constructive approach," Mr Khokhar said on arrival. Mr Khokhar will meet Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on Saturday. Mr Kasuri will arrive later that evening.
"My job is relatively easier, because the foreign secretaries will only finalize the agenda for the actually substantial talks between the foreign ministers," Mr Khokhar, a former high commissioner to New Delhi, said.
Mr Kasuri will also meet several members of the Kashmiri resistance, including leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference. He has invited Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Malik, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Shabbir Shah for talks in New Delhi. They are likely to meet on Sunday.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told a Friday prayer congregation in Srinagar that he would apprise Mr Kasuri about the 'real picture' in the Valley. "We sincerely hope that talks about Kashmir are held in all earnestness," he said.
The Indian statement on the proposed talks was terse. "The external affairs minister and the foreign minister of Pakistan would be meeting in New Delhi on Sept 5-6 to review overall progress in bilateral relations and the composite dialogue," said the statement issued by the foreign ministry.
"This would be preceded by a meeting of the foreign secretaries of the two countries on Sept 4," it added. The statement further said that Mr Kasuri would also be meeting India's National Security Adviser Jyotindra Nath Dixit and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
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