India, Pak. Foreign Secys. meeting tomorrow

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, AUG. 8: The bilateral meeting between the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan on the sidelines of the SAARC standing committee meeting here has been scheduled for Friday, August 10, and is expected to go ahead despite the latest bloodletting in Jammu, officials here said. The Indian Foreign Secretary, Ms. Chokila Iyer, arrived today for the standing committee meeting, which begins on Thursday. The Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, Mr. Inamul Haq, is expected to arrive tomorrow.

SAARC officials from the seven-member countries are holding two days of preparatory meetings ahead of the special session of the standing committee, which is expected to discuss dates for the Kathmandu summit, postponed since 1999. Nepal favours holding the summit in December this year, but the dates will have to be agreed upon by all the member countries, the officials said.

Our Chennai Special Correspondent reports:

Earlier speaking to reporters at the Chennai airport en route to Colombo, Ms. Iyer said that she was looking forward to the resumption of the ``composite dialogue'' with Pakistan.Her meeting with the Pakistani counterpart would be a continuation of the dialogue after the Agra summit.

Ms. Chokila Iyer is heading a five-member Indian delegation. The Foreign Secretary said she would take up the issue of the release of all Prisoners of War in Pakistan and hoped to discuss other bilateral issues.

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