NEW DELHI, Aug 11: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will make his maiden visit to Jammu and Kashmir this month and his observations there are expected to influence two important meetings with Pakistan next month, official sources said on Wednesday.
Although India has not yet officially said so, a meeting between Dr Singh and President Gen Pervez Musharraf looks certain to take place in New York when the two leaders attend the annual session of the UN General Assembly any time around Sept 11.
The focus of Dr Singh's visit to Srinagar and his proposed meetings there is not yet clear, but he is expected to be there soon after Aug 15, India's Independence Day, usually observed across Jammu and Kashmir as a day of protests.
Dr Singh's agenda in Srinagar has, however, been somewhat complicated by this week's resolve by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference not to hold any meeting with Indian officials if these are to be staged within the confines of the Indian constitution.
But Dr Singh will take heart, as well as a few talking points for his Pakistani interlocutors, from a rare event to unfold in Srinagar on Thursday, according to the sources.
For the first time in 57 years, artistes from India and Pakistan will come together in Jammu and Kashmir for a cultural extravaganza appropriately titled "Colour of the Heart".
The event will feature India's dancer-actress-choreographer Malika Sarabhai and Pakistan's renowned composer-writer-singer Samia Malik. The two will perform at the Tagore Hall in Srinagar. Besides the celebrities from India and Pakistan, the event will also feature performances by women from other countries, including the US, Spain, Britain and Canada.
"It is going to be a grand India-Pakistan cultural function organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages in collaboration with the British Council and the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts in Ahmedabad," an official statement said on Wednesday.
Dr Singh's assessment of the level violence in he valley and inputs from the Line of Control too "will definitely feed into the Foreign Secretary-level talks on Sept 4", the Indian Express said.
These would be followed by a two-day ministerial meeting between Indian Foreign Minister Kunwar Natwar Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Mr Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri.