President Pervez Musharraf has welcomed resumption of the composite dialogue process between India and Pakistan, hoping it would lead to "some fruitful and substantial" conclusion.
Musharraf, who has supervised several rounds of talks with India, was given a presentation by the foreign ministry during a meeting attended by Foreign Minister Qureshi, Foreign Secretary Bashir and other senior officials, on the eve of the two-day talks to be held.
He also gave "certain directives on outstanding issues", ahead of the the first high-level contact between the two countries since the change of government in Islamabad in March, TV channels reported.
Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, scheduled to reach here this evening with an official delegation, will meet his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir tomorrow to review the fourth round of the composite dialogue that was held last year.
Their talks will set the agenda for Wednesday's meeting between Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who will arrive here tomorrow, and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Mukherjee, who last travelled to Pakistan in February 2007, is scheduled to meet Musharraf before his talks with Qureshi on Wednesday. He will meet Prime Minister Gilani after the talks, besides PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N Nawaz Sharif.
Besides Kashmir, the other issues that are part of the composite dialogue are peace and security including CBMs, Siachen, Sir Creek, Wullar Barrage, terrorism and drug trafficking, economic and commercial cooperation and promotion of friendly exchanges.
