Reacting to Singh’s comments, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said efforts were underway to hold further talks.
“We have noted the (Indian Prime Minister’s) statement and are in the process of fixing dates for the next round of meetings,” Sadiq told a weekly news briefing.
Soon after Gillani assumed office, Singh sent a letter to the new Pakistan Prime Minister and later called him up to greet him with a hope that the two countries would work expeditiously towards “agreed solutions of pending issues”. Singh hoped Gillani would build on the initiatives taken by the then Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, as also President Pervez Musharraf, to improve bilateral ties.
The Foreign Secretaries of the two countries are expected to meet to review the last round of the Composite Dialogue before officials embark on further talks under the process that began nearly four years ago.
Meeting US officials
The Indo-Pak Composite Dialogue to resolve Kashmir and other outstanding issues figured in talks the two top visiting US officials had with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan here on Wednesday.
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Richard Boucher met Khan to discuss “aspects of bilateral relations, including economic and defence cooperation”, Sadiq told reporters here.
The Indo-Pak composite dialogue and Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan also figured in the talks between the two sides.


FIGHT ON TERROR

Bush waives law to give $300 mn aid to Pak
Washington, pti: US President George W Bush has decided to waive a domestic law for Pakistan to pump in $300 million security assistance in the country amid stepped up efforts by Washington to bring its new civilian government on board in the “war on terror”.
Bush has decided to exempt Pakistan from a law that restricts funding to the countries where the legitimate head of state has been deposed in a military coup with a view to facilitating the transition to democratic rule.