Pakistan's newly appointed high commissioner to India, Aziz Ahmed Khan, is likely to take up his assignment by the middle of this month, Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokkar said on Wednesday.

Khokkar also said the Indian envoy to Pakistan, Shivshankar Menon, would be in Islamabad by the first half of July.

Khokkar, who is in Washington to prepare the groundwork for President Pervez Musharraf's visit later this month, said he had conveyed Pakistan's appreciation of the 'helpful role' played by the United States administration in 'initiating the process of dialogue between India and Pakistan', Pakistani media reported on Wednesday.

He said the Indo-Pak peace process was slow because both the countries were proceeding cautiously.