New Delhi, January 17
External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha today telephoned his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and the two leaders agreed to resume the composite dialogue process from next month as planned, a foreign office spokesman said.
Further details of how to go about it would be worked out through diplomatic channels. This is the first contact between the two foreign ministers since Mr Sinha returned from Islamabad 10 days ago.
The decision to resume the composite dialogue in February was announced by both sides after a meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on January five which was followed up with a telephone call by the India, leader the next day before leaving for Delhi.
According to PTI Yashwant Sinha will meet US Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice during his three-day official visit to Washington from January 19.
Sinha, who flew to Mumbai late this evening, will travel to New York tomorrow morning before moving to Washington. He has several engagements lined up in the US Congress, including meetings with Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House International Relations Committee.
