Moscow, July 16: Indo-Pak standoff and the menace of international terrorism are issues likely to figure at the three-day session of Indo-Russian working group beginning in New Delhi tomorrow. Russian first deputy foreign minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov will be co-chairing the meet with Indian foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.

The situation in South Asia in the context of Indo-Pak standoff is expected to be discussed by Trubnikov, when he is scheduled to call on the new external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha. Impact of Afghan developments on central, South and West Asia are also expected to be discussed by Trubnikov and Sibal, diplomatic sources said, adding political reconciliation, formation of a stable political system in Afghanistan and resurrection of its war-torn economy are a top priority for Moscow and New Delhi.

Trubnikov, a former Russian foreign intelligence chief, is bringing a large team of officials specialising in south, central and west Asian affairs in the foreign ministry. The working group was set up in October 2000 by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Russian President Vladimir Putin and has proved an effective mechanism for the high-level Indo-Russian interaction on key issue of combating terrorism emanating from Afghanistan, they said.

Indo-Russian meet would be the first meeting of Indo-Russian working group after Loya Jirga in Afghanistan, which elected Hamid Karzai as the interim head of state. Bureau Report