India, Pak officials meet on Nov 25

Islamabad, Nov 12 (PTI) Senior officials from India and Pakistan will meet here on November 25 for talks on countering terrorism and drug trafficking and liberalising the visa regime under the composite dialogue process.

The day-long meeting between Pakistan's interior
secretary and India's home secretary is expected to discuss
terrorism, drug trafficking and liberalisation of the visa,
official sources in the Pakistani government told PTI.

The two sides will also take up issues like exchange of
civilian prisoners, human trafficking, illegal immigration and
measures to counter counterfeit currency.

The talks will be part of the fifth round of the
composite dialogue launched four years ago. The date for the
meeting between the interior secretaries was decided recently
through diplomatic channels, the sources said.

The parleys will precede meetings of the interior
secretaries and interior ministers of South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (S.A.A.R.C.) countries
scheduled to be held in Islamabad on November 26-27.

The interior secretaries of India and Pakistan had last
met in New Delhi in July, 2007 and discussed drafts of the
revised visa and consular access agreements that were aimed at
liberalising and making existing provisions more effective.

The agreement on granting consular access to prisoners in
jails of the two countries was signed during External Affairs
Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Islamabad in May.

The two countries are also working on a memorandum of
understanding between the Anti-Narcotics Force of Pakistan and
the Narcotics Control Bureau of India to make existing
cooperation more effective.

The issues in the eight-point agenda under the composite
dialogue process are terrorism, drug trafficking, military
standoff on Siachen glacier, Tulbul navigation project-Wullar
barrage, the Sir Creek boundary dispute, economic and
commercial cooperation, peace and security and Kashmir.PTI RHL
SAK