ISLAMABAD, July 30: Bureaucrats involved in the ongoing composite dialogue will brief President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Saturday about all issues related to India-Pakistan ties, Dawn learnt on Friday.

Secretaries of the ministries of foreign affairs, interior, defence, commerce, water and power, and culture will attend the meeting convened by the president, said sources. The foreign office team will also attend it.

Prime Minister Shujat Hussain is also expected to attend the meeting. "The secretaries of all ministries involved in the composite dialogue will make detailed presentations at the meeting on Saturday, likely to be held at the president's camp office in Rawalpindi," sources said.

This is the first time that the president has sought this kind of presentation. It conveys the importance the government is attaching to the dialogue process initiated after the Jan 5 meeting between President Musharraf and the then Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the sidelines of the Saarc Summit in Islamabad.

Officials here said it would be a 'very important session' pointing out that all eight subjects included in the composite dialogue framework agreed to by the foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India here in February will be discussed at the Saturday meeting.

The subjects covered under the composite dialogue framework are: Peace and security, Jammu and Kashmir, Wullar Barrage, promotion of friendly exchanges, Siachen, Sir Creek, terrorism and drug trafficking, and economic and commercial cooperation.

Pakistan and India have already discussed peace and security, Kashmir, and Wullar Barrage. Talks on the other six subjects are scheduled for next month.

The foreign ministers of the two countries will meet in New Delhi on Sept 5-6 to review overall progress on the composite dialogue process. This would be preceded by a one-day meeting of the foreign secretaries on Sept 4.

Opinion

Editorial

Energy inflation
Updated 23 May, 2024

Energy inflation

The widening gap between the haves and have-nots is already tearing apart Pakistan’s social fabric.
Culture of violence
23 May, 2024

Culture of violence

WHILE political differences are part of the democratic process, there can be no justification for such disagreements...
Flooding threats
23 May, 2024

Flooding threats

WITH temperatures in GB and KP forecasted to be four to six degrees higher than normal this week, the threat of...
Bulldozed bill
Updated 22 May, 2024

Bulldozed bill

Where once the party was championing the people and their voices, it is now devising new means to silence them.
Out of the abyss
22 May, 2024

Out of the abyss

ENFORCED disappearances remain a persistent blight on fundamental human rights in the country. Recent exchanges...
Holding Israel accountable
22 May, 2024

Holding Israel accountable

ALTHOUGH the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor wants arrest warrants to be issued for Israel’s prime...