ISLAMABAD, July 25: It’s not only the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, who’s keeping his hosts in Pakistan guessing about his travel plans, but Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins is also following his boss by not confirming if he is coming to Islamabad over the weekend.

Officials at the Foreign Office were till Thursday afternoon desperately trying to find out from the US Embassy if Mr Dobbins was sticking to his schedule. But the embassy wasn’t of any help either and asked those contacting from the Foreign Office, much to their chagrin, to wait and see.

The special envoy was due here over the weekend to discuss the revival of peace process in Afghanistan and efforts for normalisation of Pak-Afghan ties, and more importantly, finalise the agenda for Mr Kerry’s upcoming visit.The government is also awaiting Mr Kerry’s visit itinerary.

“The visit of Secretary Kerry is very much on the cards, but the dates have not yet been finalised,” FO Spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said at his weekly briefing on Thursday.

Secretary Kerry was tentatively scheduled to visit Islamabad sometime next week (Tuesday/ Wednesday), but up till now the government does not know whether or not the visit is on. Even the advance team that the State Department dispatched to Islamabad for the secretary’s trip can’t say when Mr Kerry reaches here.

Mr Kerry, who was originally to visit Pakistan last month, had at the last moment cancelled the trip citing pre-occupation with Syrian crisis, but went to New Delhi for a three-day trip around the same dates.

Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz had met Mr Kerry on the sidelines of the 20th Ministerial Meeting of the Asean Regional Forum in Brunei Darussalam on July 2 to discuss future bilateral cooperation.

A substantive agenda awaits Secretary Kerry in Islamabad, where he will not only be discussing bilateral matters like resumption of ministerial-level strategic dialogue and contentious issues like drone strikes, but also regional issues as to how to take forward the stalemated peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

Spokesman Chaudhry doesn’t agree with the notion that the ties were not in the best of shape, but admits that the relationship has had its share of convergences and divergences.

“I believe that Pakistan is engaged with the US on the basis of mutual respect and mutuality of benefit,” he says.

About the reports of a Pak-US prisoners swap agreement that may lead to repatriation of Aafia Siddiqi, he said there was no such arrangement but indicated that the two sides were considering proposals to “join two regional arrangements” that could serve as a point of reference for considering requests for prisoner exchange.

“This particular aspect is under consideration in the Ministry of Interior,” he said.

AFGHANISTAN: Responding to a question about Mr Aziz’s visit to Kabul on Sunday, he said the Pakistani government was hoping to work with the Afghan government “on an agenda that leads us to lasting peace, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan and the region”.

He said Pakistan would persevere with its approach of maintaining a “close, positive and constructive engagement” with Afghanistan despite the distractions caused by frequent outbursts of allegations from Kabul.

Mr Chaudhry said Pakistan “exercised utmost restraint (in the past) and will continue to do that. We believe that allegations and counter allegations will not help us achieve our shared goal of securing peace and stability in Afghanistan and our region.”

INDIA: The FO spokesman said Pakistan was ready to engage with India under the Composite Dialogue process to counter terrorism in the region. He hoped that the resumed dialogue process would start soon and enable the two sides to deal with issues like terrorism that had been souring bilateral ties.