NEWS

Dixit, Aziz to meet December 23

December 06, 2004 17:46 IST
National Security Advisor J N Dixit is expected to meet his Pakistani counterpart Tariq Aziz on December 22-23 ahead of the foreign secretaty-level talks as part of the Indo-Pak Composite Dialogue Process, media reports in Islamabad said Monday.

Pakistan's Daily Times quoted officials as saying that Dixit and Aziz could meet either in Kathmandu or Dubai or Amritsar on December 22-23 to discuss the pace and direction of the current peace process between the two countries.

The officials quoted by the daily said the proposed Aziz-Dixit meeting was one of the major reasons the talks between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan that were scheduled for December 23 and 24 were postponed to December 27 and 28.

Asked about the agenda of the Aziz-Dixit meeting, the sources said that they did not need a written agenda because "both

of them know what they are to talk about."

"Certainly Kashmir will be top when they meet, but they are free to discuss anything. Their talks always revolve around finding ways for ensuring the resolution of all issues and removing bottlenecks in the ongoing bilateral talks at the official level," they said.

They said the contentious issue of the nature of required document for travel in the proposed bus service between Muzaffarabad in Pak Occupied Kashmir and Srinagar was also expected to be discussed.

Officials of both the countries would meet in New Delhi Tuesday to narrow down the differences on documents to be specified for the passengers to carry.

"Both sides are also near an agreement for a bus service between Sialkot and Jammu. This service is likely to be run on the pattern of the Lahore-New Delhi bus service," the daily quoted officials as saying.

NEXT ARTICLE

NewsBusinessMoviesSportsCricketGet AheadDiscussionLabsMyPageVideosCompany Email