CDP to come up for review during EAM visit to Pak

New Delhi, Jan 5: The India-Pakistan Composite Dialogue Process (CDP) will come up for a review during the upcoming two-day visit of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to Islamabad on January 13-14.

The two countries will also formally launch the Fourth Round of the Composite Dialogue Process in February.

Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner to India, Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi said India's Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon will visit Islamabad in February to launch, with his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammad Khan, the Fourth Round of the CDP.

''The Indian External Affairs Minister will have a review meeting with the Foreign Minister of Pakistan of the concluded Third Round of the Pakistan-India Composite Dialogue,'' Mr Afrasiab said.

The External Affairs Minister, who will visit Islamabad to formally invite Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to attend the SAARC Summit to be held in India in April, will have discussions with his counterpart Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri besides meeting Gen Musharraf.

Mr Afrasiab said the Pakistani leadership was also looking forward to the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Islamabad.

However, dates for the Prime Minister's visit had not been decided yet, it would be a ''big CBM'' (Confidence-Building Measures, he said.

''The Prime Minister's visit to Pakistan, whenever it happens, is a big CBM...(Such) visits themselves are a big CBM,'' the Deputy High Commissioner added.

Asserting that the upcoming meeting between the Foreign Ministers would ''reflect the future course,'' Mr Afsariab said since the Havana Summit in September 2006, more than 12 high-level visits had taken place between the two sides. This included that of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in December.

To a question on occasional reciprocal expulsion of diplomatic personnel by either country, he dismissed that relations between the two countries were subjected to ''tit-for-tat'' ''This is certainly not always the case...This is a positive aspect in India-Pakistan relations...All these are not insignificant developments in the context of Pakistan-India relations which need to be taken note of,'' he asserted.

Referring to the ''glorious past and a bright future'' of both countries, he said all this highlighted the need for both nations to live in peace and harmony with each other.

''Many things which are dear to us are in India and many things which are dear to India, are in Pakistan,'' Stressing the need for media to play a ''positive and constructive role,'' he said there was a need for the media to focus and report on genuine and sincere efforts of the governments of the two countries aimed at further improving relations between them''.

UNI

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