Press Trust of India / New Delhi/Islamabad May 11, 2010, 14:18 IST
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will visit Islamabad on July 15 for talks with his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi to work out the modalities for carrying forward the dialogue process to discuss outstanding issues in an atmosphere of mutual trust.
After a 25-minute telephonic conversation between the two ministers today, Krishna told reporters that Qureshi had invited him to visit Islamabad on July 15 and he looked forward to the talks.
"The Foreign Minister of Pakistan has invited me to visit Islamabad on July 15. So I am planning to visit Islamabad for my talks with Foreign Minister Qureshi," he said.
"I am looking forward to these talks and let us hope that these talks will help in bringing our countries closer together and bringing between the two countries the cordiality we desire and let us hope that our efforts will be fruitful," he said.
Krishna said he and Qureshi will work out the methodology to carry forward the dialogue between the two countries so that all outstanding issues could be discussed in an atmosphere of "mutual trust".
He said the Prime Ministers of both the countries had after their meeting in Thimpu last month asked the Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries to meet as soon as possible and discuss ways to reduce "trust deficit".
On Thursday, Krishna had said in Rajya Sabha that India had decided to have a dialogue as there has been a "transformation" in ties with assurance coming at the level of Pakistan Prime Minister that India's "core concern" with regard to terrorism would be addressed adequately.
In Islamabad, Qureshi today made it clear that the two sides were going into the talks with an open mind and positive approach without having any false hopes.
"I will not create any false hopes. I am an optimist yet a realist. I recognise the challenges, I recognise the difficulties. I recognise the trust deficit. It is an uphill task.
"Don't expect miracles overnight. Good thing is that on both sides we have democracies and democracies believe in negotiations, talks and parleys," he said adding "we had a very good discussion and we will build on it. There is no quick fixes".
His response came on being asked about the two sides reportedly having come close to a deal on issues related to Siachen and Sir Creek during the earlier dialogue process.
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