Krishna to meet Khar in Tokyo today
Though External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had to postpone his visit to Islamabad by about two months, he is set to meet his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar in Tokyo on Sunday to discuss ways to give a boost to the bilateral dialogue which was resumed last year.
Krishna and Khar will hold a bilateral meet on the sidelines of a conference on Afghanistan in the Japanese capital and are likely to discuss the outcome of the just-concluded second round of the dialogue.
They will hold a more formal review of the dialogue process when Krishna visits Islamabad in September.
Sources told Deccan Herald that the External Affairs Minister will meet Khar in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon. The meeting is understood to be intended to end out the message that both New Delhi and Islamabad are keen to carry on the dialogue process, notwithstanding the revelations by Lashkar-e-Toiba operative Abu Jundal about Pakistani state agencies’ role in the 26/11 Mumbai attack.
He is expected to discuss the issue of terrorists being harboured by Pakistan and articulate New Delhi’s view that if Islamabad brings the 26/11 plotters justice expeditiously, it will be the biggest confidence building measure between the two neighbours.
Krishna had reportedly told Pakistan Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani last Thursday that New Delhi expects Islamabad to act against Jamat-ud-Dawa chief and suspected 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed and speed up the trial of seven LeT operatives in the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi.
Krishna is likely to convey to Khar that it would be difficult for Manmohan Singh to visit Pakistan, unless Islamabad takes some serious actions to address concerns on terrorism. Jilani meeting with his Indian counterpart Ranjan Mathai on Wednesday and Thursday.
