ISLAMABAD, May 5: US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca will meet top Pakistani leaders in Islamabad on Thursday, US and Pakistani officials said.

Mr Armitage and Ms Rocca are due to arrive in the Pakistani capital late on Wednesday for Thursday’s talks, a US embassy spokesman said on Monday.

“The main day of talks is Thursday,” the spokesman said.

They will meet President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali, an official said.

The duo will be capitalizing on the fresh momentum towards a thaw in Pakistan-India tensions which have kept the subcontinent on a knife-edge for 17 months.

Since Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s surprise April 18 offer to finally agree to the talks proposed for months by Islamabad, Pakistan has formally invited him for dialogue and both sides are moving to restore full diplomatic ties and airlinks.

Amid widespread perceptions that United States pressure is behind the surprise peace overtures, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said: “friendly countries” were involved but rejected the concept of “external pressure.”

Foreign ministry spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan said a range of bilateral and regional issues including relations with India would be discussed with Mr Armitage and Ms Rocca.—AFP