Kathmandu, July 08: Foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan are likely to utilise the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation standing committee meeting here beginning Thursday to hold informal bilateral talks, Nepalese foreign ministry spokesman said today. "It is most likely that the Indian and the Pakistani foreign secretaries would utilise the opportunity to discuss the bilateral matters on the sidelines" of the SAARC meeting, spokesman Madan Kumar Bhattarai said.

Meanwhile, the preparatory committee meeting began its deliberations today on reports submitted by the grouping's technical committees. It would be followed by the SAARC standing committee meeting to be attended by foreign secretaries of the seven-member grouping. Participants at the joint secretary-level preparatory meeting include senior officers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

R O Wallang, joint secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs of India, Jalil Jilani, director general and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan are among the senior officers participating in the meeting.

Lekhnath Bhattarai, joint secretary at the foreign Ministry of Nepal, is chairing the one-day preparatory committee meeting. Bureau Report