Saturday, January 15 2005 22:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The ongoing composite dialogue with Pakistan cannot be open-ended or have short time-frame, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh said today (Jan 15, 2005), a month ahead of his visit to Islamabad.

"We should not look upon the (upcoming) meeting between Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and myself as an event. It should be seen as part of a process which cannot be open-ended. And, it also cannot have short time-frame," he told reporters after delivering the 12th Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Lecture in New Delhi.

Singh, who will visit Pakistan for three days from February 15, said his tour of the neighbouring country was aimed at carrying forward the composite dialogue process.

He noted his upcoming visit to Pakistan would be the first by an Indian External Affairs Minister for bilateral talks since 1989 when P V Narasimha Rao visited that country.

However, for multilateral meetings like the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) conferences, Singh and his predecessors Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha have visited Pakistan in the interim period.

Singh, who had travelled to Islamabad in July for the SAARC Ministerial meet, will hold discussions with Kasuri on the entire gamut of bilateral ties.

The stand-off between the two countries over the Baglihar hydro-power project in Jammu and Kashmir is also likely to figure during the talks.

New Delhi has conveyed to Islamabad India's intention to carry on "a sustained and steady dialogue" with it.