Thursday, March 24 2005 18:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Making it clear that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf would have no structured agenda when they meet in Delhi next month, India has said the two leaders would discuss issues of their interest during the "informal get-together".

India is looking at the forthcoming meeting between Singh and Musharraf as an "occasion when two leaders sit together and talk about whatever they want to", Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran was quoted as telling a team of Pakistan journalists currently visiting India.

Musharraf will arrive in New Delhi on April 16 and would see the last one-dayer of the Indo-Pak cricket series on April 17.

"We are looking forward to his visit to New Delhi as an opportunity for the two leaders to engage in talks on different matters. It is not an official summit. It is not a structured meeting and it, therefore, will have no agenda. When the leaders of two countries meet they can discuss any thing," Saran said.

The informal talks will take place over lunch, the Prime Minister planned to host for Musharraf.

This will be Musharraf's first trip to India after the failed Agra summit in 2001.

During the briefing to the Pakistan media, Saran said both India and Pakistan would have to work for creating a middle ground through various Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) and enlargement of the constituency for peace to settle the simmering Kashmir dispute.

"We need to overcome the existing mistrust between the two nations, to bridge what your President Musharraf calls as the trust deficit. The (Kashmir) issue has defied solution for many years. The greater the trust, the greater the chances of solving the issue," he said.

An effort to find a solution to the Kashmir problem was being made, he said adding both the countries had their clear viewpoint, which necessitated the creation of a middle ground to reach some kind of mutual understanding for the resolution of the dispute.

"We want to tackle the issue to the satisfaction of India and Pakistan," he said in a reference to the pressure of public opinion in both the countries forcing the two Governments to stick to their stated positions. "No solution to the problem is possible unless we reach a mutual understanding on it."

On Pakistan's often-repeated assertions to include Kashmiris in the talks, Saran said, "The people of Kashmir are very much a part and parcel of India's public opinion."

Asked whether Indian was considering any option to resolve the Kashmir issue, he said, "Let our leaders engage in a dialogue and find a solution to the problem."

A mutually acceptable solution can be reached provided there is public support from both the countries. "We wish to come to a mutually acceptable solution of Jammu and Kashmir, provided there is a public support on both sides of the border," he said.