Indian FM leaves for Pakistan on 3-day visit

New Delhi, July 13, IRNA – To bridge the trust deficit between the two countries, India’s Foreign Minister S M Krishna on Wednesday will embark on a three-day Pakistan visit.

Krishna is visiting Pakistan from July 14-16, 2010 for bilateral discussions at the invitation of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Foreign Minister of Pakistan.

“It is being undertaken in pursuance of the mandate given by the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan, during their meeting at Thimphu in Bhutan, in April, 2010, to the Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries of both the countries to work out the modalities of restoring trust and confidence in the relationship, thus paving the way for a substantive dialogue on issues of mutual concern”, External Affairs Ministry Monday announced in a brief statement.

Krishna will hold wide-ranging talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi. The talks are expected to review the progress made by Pakistan in prosecuting the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack and India's core concerns on terrorist groups targeting Indian interests and assets from the Pakistani territory.

This is the first visit by an Indian External Affairs Minister to Pakistan since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao the first senior Indian official visited Pakistan on June 24 since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. After Rao, Home Minister P Chidambaram was the next to reach there. He visited to participate in the SAARC meeting of Home Ministers./end