Krishna to visit Pak on July 15

The external affairs minister, Mr S.M.Krishna, has indicated that India’s concerns on terror would also be discussed when he meets his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in Islamabad on July 15.

The date and venue of the talks was firmed up Tuesday in a telephone conversation between the two ministers.

The foreign ministers’ talks follows the brief meeting between the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani, on the sidelines of the Saarc summit in Thimpu late last month.

Speaking on board the flight to the Kazakh capital of Astana where he is to attend bilateral talks, Mr Krishna said: “The Thimpu spirit is that we discuss everything and there are no issues that are to be kept outside.” He added, “I’m sure that Pakistan shares this concern of ours.”

The last time the foreign ministers had a meeting was on November 26, 2008 just hours before terrorists from Pakistan unleashed mayhem in Mumbai, killing around 200 people.

In Islamabad, Mr Qureshi said India and Pakistan were going into the talks with an open mind. He said: “I will not create any false hopes. I am a realist.”

The Krishna-Qureshi meeting would be preceded by the home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram’s visit to Islamabad on June 26 for the much-delayed meeting of the home ministers of Saarc countries. When his attention was drawn to a recent suggestion by Finland’s foreign minister, Mr Alexander Stubb on third-party mediation to resolve the Kashmir issue, Mr Krishna remarked: “When we are talking to Pakistan directly, where does the question of third party mediation arise?”