ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: Indian External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, who arrives here on Sunday, will hold formal talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, on Monday to assess progress made at the recently concluded second round of the composite dialogue.

Also on the agenda is a meeting of the joint commission.

This will be Mr Singh’s second visit to Pakistan, who will be accompanied by a 15-member delegation including the foreign secretary and senior officials of five other ministries. A 15-member Indian media team is also coming to cover the event.

On Monday the two ministers will meet at the Foreign Office for a review session of the composite dialogue process which enters the third round in January 2006. At the delegation-level talks senior officials from both sides will assist the ministers. Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Shiv Shankar Menon and Pakistan High Commissioner to India Aziz Ahmed will also be present at the meeting.

A foreign ministry official confirmed on Saturday that agreements on pre-notification of missile tests and establishment of a communication link between Pakistan Maritime Security Agency and Indian Coast Guard Authority will be signed soon after the talks. The pre-notification agreement would be signed by the two foreign secretaries while the other by the director-general Pakistan Maritime Security Agency and director-general Indian Coast Guard Authority.