Islamabad, Feb 15: Ahead of the three-day parleys with India from tomorrow to discuss the modalities for the composite dialogue, Pakistan today said it approached the official-level talks with a "positive frame of mind" and hoped this process would lead to peaceful settlement of all issues, especially Jammu and Kashmir. Joint Secretary in External Affairs Ministry Arun Kumar Singh, who along with Under Secretary Deepak Mithal arrived in Pakistan today, would hold two days of parleys with Jalil Abaas Jilani, Director for South Asia in Pakistan Foreign office.
This would be followed by one-day talks between Foreign Secretary Shashank and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Khokhar on Wednesday.
On the eve of the talks, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri told PTI that he hoped that both sides would stick to the spirit of the joint statement issued on January six after the meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf here.
"Pakistan approached Monday's talks with positive frame of mind and hoped that India would do the same," he said.
Shashank told news agencies in Delhi that "we are going to start the process agreed to in the joint statement. That will mean looking into modalities for the dialogue process and see what meetings should be organised in the next few months to keep up the dialogue on a sustained basis." Bureau Report