ISLAMABAD, Dec 21: Pakistan and India will start the third round of composite dialogue process on Jan 17 with foreign secretary-level talks on peace and security as well as disputed Kashmir, Dawn learnt through diplomatic sources on Wednesday. The two-day talks will be held in New Delhi.

A formal announcement about the dates is expected shortly.

The meeting will mark the first high-level official contact between the two countries in 2006.

This will be the fifth meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries under the composite dialogue framework since 2004.

Foreign secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan will be leading around an eight-member delegation comprising senior foreign ministry officials, it is learnt.

The talks will cover all elements of peace and security including the nuclear dimension, sources said, adding that there will be comprehensive discussions on all aspects of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

The secretary-level meeting acquires special significance in the backdrop of the proposals of demilitarization and self-governance in Kashmir region mooted by President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

India so far has maintained ‘diplomatic silence’ on these proposals which have evoked a positive response from the Kashmiri leadership on both sides of the Line of Control. The international community particularly the United States and the European Union have also been quite supportive of these proposals.

The overriding message from Pakistan to India at the upcoming meeting will be to move forward from the dispute management mode to the dispute resolution mode and address all bilateral issues head-on, sources said.