ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: Indian National Security Adviser J. N Dixit and his Pakistani counterpart Tariq Aziz who have been actively involved in back-channel diplomacy to take forward the dialogue process will meet in Amritsar this week to discuss the latest developments on this front, it is reliably learnt.
The meeting which will take place ahead of the next round of Indo-Pakistan composite dialogue in December acquires special significance against the backdrop of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz s visit to India last week.
It is believed that Mr Dixit, a close confidant of Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr Tariq Aziz, will look at ways of enabling the two countries to move ahead on substantive issues including Jammu and Kashmir.
In the first round of the 2004 composite dialogue no breakthrough Was been achieved in any of the disputed areas. It has been seen as a mere reiteration of the stated positions by the two sides without any tangible progress.
The nuclear as well as conventional CBMs and the Indian proposal of starting a Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service will be on the agenda of the upcoming Dixit-Aziz meeting, sources said. It is learnt that some agreement may be reached on the travel document issue that is seen as a roadblock to establishing the Kashmir bus link.
On the proposed Kashmir bus service, the Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh was quoted last week as saying: We are hopeful of working out all technicalities, and we are very near a solution.
There is intense pressure on both the governments from the Kashmiri leaders as well as the international community to get the bus service rolling. The bus link would facilitate interaction between the Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and reunite many divided families.
The two-day politico-technical level talks on the Srinagar- Muzaffarabad bus service are slated for December 7. Mr Dixit and Mr Aziz are also likely to take up the issue of the controversial Baglihar hydro-electric dam ahead of the final round of crucial talks on it next week. This will be the second Dixit-Aziz meeting in Amritsar this year. They have also met a couple of times in the neutral territory of Dubai.