ISLAMABAD: As External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrives here on Saturday on his first visit to Pakistan, expectations are that it will boost the peace process.

Although no major breakthrough is expected, officials say he is likely to hold "substantive" discussions on the peace process including Kashmir, Siachen and all other bilateral issues.

Mr. Mukherjee will meet President Pervez Musharraf, to whom he will hand over an invitation for the New Delhi SAARC summit in April, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri. He will review the third round of the composite dialogue process with Mr. Kasuri.

On Thursday, Mr. Kasuri told journalists that he expected to hold "purposeful discussions" on all aspects of the peace process with Mr. Mukherjee.

"Improve the atmosphere"

"We will improve the atmosphere and hold purposeful discussions on Kashmir, Siachen and Sir Creek and set high benchmarks for the fourth round of the composite dialogue process," Mr. Kasuri said.

He said Mr. Mukherjee would discover that the Pakistan leadership was very "positive."

There has been speculation in the Pakistan media that the Minister, who met several Kashmiri leaders last week, is bringing with him specific proposals on the Kashmir issue.

Mr. Kasuri said the two sides already covered a lot of ground and were "discussing many ideas" for the resolution of the Kashmir and Siachen issues.

Remarks by officials in New Delhi ahead of Mr. Mukherjee's visit about Pakistan's willingness to authenticate ground positions of troops in Siachen have also raised expectations of a breakthrough.

However, officials on both sides insist that no major announcement, agreement or initiative is likely during Mr. Pranab's visit.

One of the questions surrounding the SAARC invitation to Gen. Musharraf is whether he will travel to New Delhi if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's long-awaited visit here does not take place before the April meeting.

Usually, heads of Government attend the SAARC summit. Although Gen. Musharraf calls the shots in Pakistan, Mr. Aziz is the designated head of Government. He attended the Dhaka summit last year.

Pakistan has indicated that nothing is decided on this issue yet, but whether Gen. Musharraf attends the summit — the last one he attended was the 2002 Kathmandu summit — may well depend on whether Dr. Singh takes up the long-standing invitation to visit Islamabad before the summit.

Mr. Kasuri said Pakistan would prefer Dr. Singh to come here to Gen. Musharraf making another trip to India.

"The President of Pakistan already visited India in 2005. It is the turn of Prime Minister to visit Pakistan. It will be considered more appropriate for the President [Musharraf] to visit India after the Prime Minister pays a return visit. This seems very appropriate to me," Mr. Kasuri said.

Mr. Mukherjee's visit comes at the beginning of Pakistan's election year and at a time of great political uncertainty.

He is scheduled to have a breakfast meeting on Sunday with leaders and representatives of the ruling and Opposition parties.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail