Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar, who started his 'SAARC yatra' with Bhutan and visited Bangladesh, will be in Pakistan to hold talks with his counterpart Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhary and later call on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Pakistani officials said they hoped the talks would lead to a resumption of the Indo-Pak dialogue. "We have noted that the visit is in the context of SAARC. However, when the foreign secretaries meet, bilateral relations would be discussed. We expect this interaction would lead to resumption of the dialogue process," Pakistani officials said.

Pakistan was expected to propose a series of new confidence-building measures, including the restoration of the 2003 ceasefire agreement to end hostilities along its border with India, but they said it was "just speculation." The SAARC is an economic and geopolitical grouping of eight countries located in South Asia which includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka as its members.

Frankly, we do not have any idea what this Indian government wants. We will try to understand their policy," a senior diplomat said. Private media reported that Pakistan may offer some new CBMs including an offer to respect the 2003 ceasefire agreement on the Line of Control. Jaishankar is also expected to meet advisor on national security and foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz and special assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi.

By Premji