Krishna to visit Pakistan Sep 7-9, Jundal shadow over talks

New Delhi/Islamabad, July 24 (IANS) With the revelations by 26/11 plotter Abu Jundal casting a shadow on bilateral ties, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna will go on a three-day visit to Islamabad to review the dialogue process with his counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar.

The external affairs minister will go to Pakistan Sep 7-9, Syed Akbaruddin, the external affairs ministry spokesperson, told reporters here Tuesday.

Reliable sources said India's High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal met Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani in Islamabad Monday and conveyed the dates for Krishna's visit. The dates have been accepted by Islamabad.

Krishna was earlier planning to go to Islamabad mid-July, but could not do so as the dates then clashed with the presidential polls in India.

Krishna will hold wide-ranging talks with Khar in Islamabad that will review the second round of the dialogue process which resumed after the post 26/11 freeze in February last year. The two ministers will also map the forward for the third round of the dialogue process.

The talks between the two foreign ministers will be preceded by the talks between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in Islamabad.

During his visit, Krishna is also expected to call on Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.

Issues related to the disclosures made by Abu Jundal about the alleged involvement of Pakistani state actors in the 2008 attack are expected to figure in the discussions, said the sources.

Krishna last met Khar July 8 in Tokyo on the sidelines of an international donors' conference on Afghanistan and reportedly gave more evidence to Pakistan about anti-India activities indulged in by 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed who is said to enjoy patronage of the powerful military establishment in Pakistan.