New Delhi: With the new government taking charge in Islamabad, the stalled Indo-Pak bilateral dialogue process is expected to resume next month with the Foreign Secretary-level talks.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon is likely to travel to Islamabad to hold talks with his counterpart to wind up the fourth round of Composite Dialogue. It is likely to be followed by a visit by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The two sides are working out dates for the talks between the Foreign Secretaries, sources said.

The composite dialogue, which has made significant progress since it was launched in 2004, has been stalled for several months due to political turmoil in Pakistan.

The fourth round of the composite dialogue was completed in October last but the Foreign Secretary-level talks to be held at the end of it could not take place as Emergency and ensuring unrest in Pakistan.

At the meeting, the two sides will review the progress made on all the eight issues under the fourth round of composite dialogue and set the timetable for the fifth round.

India has maintained that it was waiting for the new government to take office in Pakistan after which the talks will be scheduled to take the dialogue process forward.
Source : PTI