Srinagar: Ahead of his Pakistan visit, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna was today asked to take up the issue of cross-LoC trade including removal of negative list by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Asserting that Indo-Pak ties directly impact the state, Omar also drew attention of the Minister to the problems faced in the barter trade across the LoC due to value mismatch in view of lack of financial mechanism.
Giving the assurance that he will raise the issue during his visit in September, Krishna, who was here to inaugurate a passport seva kendra, said he was looking forward to visit the neighbouring country.
Emphasising that "acrimonial debate" and "slanging match" will not help India and Pakistan, the Minister said New Delhi always wants to engage with Islamabad.
Recalling Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar`s visit to India last year, Krishna said the two sides had frank and candid talks and that every step taken since then by both sides were "complementary".
Minister for Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah, who was also present, hoped that there will be improvement in bilateral ties and Pakistan will realise how important it is to improve ties.
Krishna will undertake a three-day visit to Pakistan from September 7 to review the second round of the bilateral dialogue process with his counterpart Khar.
Krishna will review the dialogue process, which resumed
last year after a gap of over two years following the Mumbai attacks, during a meeting with Khar on September 8, according to official sources.
After the review, Krishna and Khar are expected to prepare the framework for the third round of the resumed dialogue.
During his stay in Islamabad, Krishna is expected to call on President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and some key political leaders, including PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and PML-Q leader Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain.
PTI
