By KUNA,
New Delhi : India’ Exterrnal Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee left for Islamabad Tuesday afternoon to participate in bilateral talks with Pakistan Wednesday, with the issue of Jammu Kashmir, cross-border terrorism and infiltration expected to dominate the agenda. India’ Foreign Secretary Shiv Sankar Menon is holding talks with his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir today at Islamabad to review the fourth round of Indo-Pak composite dialogue that involves various contentious issues including Jammu and Kashmir. Fifth round of composite dialogue will be launched after Menon-Bashir talks. Mukherjee will meet his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi tomorrow also at Islamabad.
This is the first formal dialogue between India and Pakistan since a civilian government was installed in Islamabad. Talks were stalled following political turmoil in Pakistan. “The issues of Jammu and Kashmir, cross-border terror and infiltration will be high on the agenda of talks,” an Indian External Affairs Ministry official told reporters here today before Mukherjee’s departure. “Infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir from across the border is a problem. In the backdrop of serial blasts in Jaipur, we will raise the issue of cross-border terrorism at the bilateral dialogue. The terror group that is suspected to have masterminded the blasts, is reported to maintain links in Pakistan. We want Pakistan to take action against the anti-India terror groups operating from its soil. We had raised this issue several times in the past and we will reiterate our demand,” the official added. An Indian Armyman was killed in firing from Pakistan across the Line of Control (LoC) in the Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir Monday . There were unconfirmed reports that at least six insurgents infiltrated into India under the covering fire from the Pakistani side. Yesterday’s firing was the second major incident of firing across the LoC in less than a week. On May 13, Pakistani troops fired on Indian positions from across the LoC in the Tangdhar sector of the Kashmir valley. It was the first violation of the 2003 ceasefire along the LoC. On May 8, a group of insurgents infiltrated into the Samba sector of Jammu region. LoC divides Indian-administered and Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir. Apart from Qureshi, Mukherjee could also hold meetings with Nawaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan’s President and the Prime Minister, the official informed.
Dates for the next joint anti-terror mechanism meeting are also likely to be decided at the bilateral talks. The last meeting of the anti-terror mechanism was held here in October 2007.
Promotion of cross-border trade and transport links will also be on the agenda of the dialogue.