NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan will hold discussions on Siachen and Sir Creek by May end in Islamabad, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.

Technical-level talks to begin the Amritsar-Lahore bus service and buses to religious places such as Nankana Sahib in Pakistan will take place on May 10 and 11 in Islamabad.

The talks on Siachen, which will be the second round of discussions in the composite dialogue process, will take place on May 25 and 26 at the level of Defence Secretaries.

Discussions on Sir Creek will take place on May 27 and 28.

Communication links

On May 10 and 11, technical-level discussions between the Indian Coast Guard and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency are scheduled to take forward the work to establish communication links between the two organisations. This was a confidence-building measure agreed to after the Foreign Secretaries met in June 2004. The Director-General, Coast Guard, will lead the Indian delegation.

The April 18 joint statement issued during the visit of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had stressed the need for "immediate" discussions on both the Siachen and Sir Creek issues. President Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also looked forward to an "early start" of the Amritsar-Lahore bus service and the bus to Nankana Sahib.

`Straightforward issues'

The Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Aziz Ahmed Khan, said that Siachen and Sir Creek were straightforward issues in that could be resolved by the two sides. In the case of Siachen, the "1989 agreement" between the two countries could provide a viable and reasonable way out.

Addressing a public function, Mr. Khan said he was upbeat about the prospects for India-Pakistan peace. "We are at a stage where a bright future beckons us," he said at the Constitution Club.

Pointing out there had been many promising moments in India-Pakistan history that had failed to deliver peace, Mr. Khan said he firmly believed that the current process would not go the way of the previous ones. Mr. Khan said it was possible to approach the same issue from different perspectives.

"Just and lasting" settlement

Stating that confidence was indeed being built between India and Pakistan, he stressed the need for a "just and lasting" settlement to the Kashmir issue. There was no reason why it could not be resolved within a reasonable timeframe.According to him, India and Pakistan had the opportunity to make history.

Referring to the highly successful visit of Gen. Musharraf to New Delhi, Mr. Khan said that Islamabad was looking forward to talks with Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on the gas pipeline issue later this month in Pakistan.

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