ISLAMABAD: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid M. Kasuri on Saturday fixed March 13 and 14 as the dates for the fourth round of the composite dialogue, and decided that the joint institutional mechanism against terror must hold its first meeting before the end of March 2007.

Soon after his arrival here, Mr. Mukherjee held a 70-minute meeting with President Pervez Musharraf, followed by a meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, whom he invited for the April SAARC summit.

Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon, who is accompanying Mr. Mukherjee, described the meetings as "very constructive" and "forward looking." Both sides used the meetings to review the commitment to dialogue. Mr. Mukherjee reiterated India's vision of common prosperity, through fighting poverty, underdevelopment and terrorism.

Significantly, both sides agreed on the need to give "political impetus" to the dialogue process to carry it forward, he said.

Later, Mr. Mukherjee reviewed the third round of the composite dialogue with Mr. Kasuri, and took a series of decisions aimed at improving the atmosphere.

At a joint press conference, Mr. Mukherjee said Mr. Kasuri would travel to New Delhi next month for a meeting of the India-Pakistan joint commission revived in October 2005 after a long gap, and which has not met since.

The two sides will sign a number of agreements during Mr. Kasuri's visit, including one on reducing the risk of nuclear accidents, another on the speedy return of inadvertent border crossings and on reducing incidents at sea.

They agreed to ease restrictions on the movements of each other's diplomats, and facilitate visits to Noida and Gurgaon for Pakistani diplomats in New Delhi, and to Taxila and Hassanabdal for Indian diplomats based here.

On Siachen, they decided that officials would meet soon for further discussions.

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