Indo-Pak meet on Kashmir related CBMs on Friday

A meeting of Indian and Pakistani officials on Kashmir-related confidence-building measures, which was postponed in the wake of the suicide bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, will be held in Islamabad on Friday.

The meeting of the Working Group on cross-Line of Control CBMs, earlier scheduled to be held on July 10, was postponed as the official who was to lead the Indian side had gone to Afghanistan in the wake of the suicide attack in Kabul.

The Working Group is meeting in pursuance of a decision taken during the meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Islamabad on May 21 to review the fourth round of the composite dialogue process.

The Working Group will 'discuss measures to facilitate travel and trade across the LoC', said a statement from Pakistan's Foreign Office.

The Pakistani delegation will be headed by Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Director General (South Asia and SAARC) while the Indian side will be led by T C A Raghavan, Joint Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry.

Raghavan had rushed to Kabul after the suicide attack that killed 58 people, including two Indian diplomats and two paramilitary personnel.

The Working Group is meeting before talks between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan in New Delhi during July 21-22 to launch the fifth round of the composite dialogue.

The two countries are expected to discuss new Kashmir-related CBMs, including modalities for intra-Kashmir trade and the launch of a truck service between Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Lists of items to be traded through the truck service will also be discussed during the meeting. The Working Group will also review existing bus services, sources said.

The first meeting of the Working Group was held in New Delhi in May 2006.