Beijing: India's new High Commissioner designate to Pakistan Shiv Shankar Menon on July 7 said he looked forward to his new assignment and stressed that New Delhi would do its best to bring its relations with Islamabad back on track.

"As our Prime Minister (Atal Behari Vajpayee) said, we will make the effort to improve our relationship with Pakistan and bring it back on track," Menon said at the Beijing International Airport before leaving for New Delhi en route to his new assignment in Pakistan.

Asked about his new assignment in Pakistan, Menon, a seasoned career diplomat said, "It is too early to say. I would like to go there before I say anything about our relationship. Certainly, I look forward to it."

Menon, 54, is expected to have more meetings in Delhi before he reaches Islamabad by mid-July. His Pakistani counterpart Aziz Ahmed Khan has already reached New Delhi last week.

Menon would succeed Vijay K Nambiar, who was recalled by India after the terrorist attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001. Nambiar later took over as India's permanent representative to the United Nations.

Commenting on his nearly three-year stint as India's Ambassador to China, Menon said that he is leaving Beijing "satisfied" with the current upward momentum in bilateral ties, especially after the visit of Prime Minister Vajpayee, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit China in a decade.

"I think I've been fortunate to see a steady improvement in India-China relations," he said.

"The recent visit of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to China has brought these relations to a new level, given a fresh impetus and really opened a road for the future development of our relationship," Menon said.

"There is a lot of concrete work to be done," he said, while noting that both sides seem to be determined for a "qualitatively new and improved relationship" between the two countries.

"To that extent, I leave satisfied with the state of our relationship with China," Menon said.

Menon previously worked in several key assignments, including Ambassador to Israel and as High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.

Menon, who has the reputation of being a thinker, strategist and a tough negotiator, enjoys high regard among Chinese and Foreign diplomats in Beijing.

PTI