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| July 14, 2006 | Friday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 17, 1427 |
Talks may not be affected
ISLAMABAD, July 13: While there is no formal announcement yet, signals from Islamabad and New Delhi suggest that the foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India will meet next week in the Indian capital to review the third round of the composite dialogue and prepare a roadmap for the next one.
The two-day talks are scheduled for July 21-22 and if all goes well an official announcement will be made shortly.
Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told Dawn on Thursday that as far as Pakistan was concerned the talks were on course as agreed to by the two sides earlier. However, in an obvious reference to New Delhi she said a reconfirmation was required.
Responding to reports emanating from New Delhi that the talks may be deferred the spokesperson said if due to domestic compulsions following the tragic Mumbai blasts India sought a postponement of the meeting Pakistan would understand and go along with it.
On Thursday a leading Indian daily The Indian Express launched an opinion poll on whether the Indo-Pakistan talks should be put on hold.
Meanwhile, preparations for the meeting are underway at the Foreign Ministry and it will soon communicate to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs the size and composition of Pakistani delegation.—QA
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