ISLAMABAD: Terrorism is the main issue that will figure in the talks on Tuesday between Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal and Pakistan's Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah.

"The main agenda for the talks is addressing the problem of terrorism and all related issues," Mr. Duggal said at a press conference here. "We will also discuss the drug and narcotics trade and all its related issues."

Mr. Duggal pointed out that after the last talks in New Delhi, he and his Pakistan counterpart met on the sidelines of the Dhaka summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation last November. The two sides had in an "absolutely friendly way" taken the discussions on terrorism forward.

"We have our sights on building a good foundation for our future generations. Can terrorism do any good for anyone? Do they have any nationality?" he said.

After the spurt in terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and concern over the expanding network of militant outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba across India, it was expected that the Indian side would use the opportunity of these talks to raise the issue of cross-border terrorism.

Considerable progress was made at the New Delhi meeting on issues such as exchange of prisoners, co-operation on combating drug and narcotics trade and on exchange of information between the Central Bureau of Investigation and Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency, Mr. Duggal said.

The two sides hoped to build on that progress, he said. "We hope to sign a memorandum of understanding soon [on narcotics control co-operation]. It has already been cleared by Pakistan."

The Home Secretary who arrived through the Wagah border on Sunday paid a visit to Nankana Sahib and later visited nearby Daulatapur, the village where he was born, before reaching here.

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