Islamabad: Pakistan's newly appointed High Commissioner to India Aziz Ahmed Khan is likely to take up his assignment by the middle of June, Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokkar said.

Khokkar also said Indian envoy to Pakistan Shiv Shankar Menon would be in Islamabad by the first half of July.

Khokkar, who is in Washington to do the groundwork for President Pervez Musharraf's visit later in June, said he had conveyed Pakistan's appreciation of the "helpful role" played by US administration in "initiating the process of dialogue between India and Pakistan", Pakistani media reported on June 4.

He said the Indo-Pak peace process was slow because both the countries were proceeding cautiously.

"The process is still slow because both sides are being cautious," Khokkar said.

PTI