ISLAMABAD, Nov 21: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday said he expected 'substantive dialogue' on all bilateral matters including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in his talks with the Indian leadership during his visit to New Delhi.

He said this before leaving for Sri Lanka on the first leg of his four-day visit to South Asian countries which will also take him to Maldives and India. Mr Aziz said he would hold talks with these countries on ways of enhansing the role of Saarc in promoting regional cooperation and making it a more effective and vibrant organization.

Mr Aziz said that in his talks with the Indian leadership he would discuss bilateral and multilateral issues as to how Saarc could be made more effective. In New Delhi, Mr Aziz would call on the president and meet his counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh as well as former Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Responding to a question, the prime minister said there were several options for importing gas from Qatar, Turkmenistan and Iran and the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline would certainly be one of the items on the agenda during his meetings with the Indian leadership. "I am looking forward to the trip, it will be a very good step in improving relations with all the Saarc countries," the prime minister said. -APP