NEW DELHI, Dec 29: Indian Foreign Secretary Shashank on Monday left for Islamabad to attend a two-day senior officials meeting of 12th Saarc summit commencing on Dec 31.

Mr Shashank left here by train for Amritsar this afternoon and will cross over into Pakistan from Wagah border on Tuesday, as the airlinks between India and Pakistan are scheduled to be resumed on Jan 1.

An official delegation of India is already in Islamabad to attend the two-day preparatory meeting of Saarc grouping on Dec 29 and 30.

The meeting of the Saarc Standing Committee, which will be attended by foreign secretaries of all the seven member-countries of the grouping, is expected to work out a strategy on the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement.

This will be followed by a two-day meeting of the Saarc foreign ministers on Jan 2 and 3, at which external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha will represent India.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his entourage are scheduled to leave for Islamabad on Saturday for the January 4-6 summit.

According to the media reports, bilateral meetings are expected to take place between the top leadership of India and Pakistan on the sidelines of the Saarc summit.—APP