Indian FM to arrive today
From Mirza Iqbal Baig

New Delhi—Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh is due to start a four-day visit to Pakistan on Sunday amid indications here the two countries may sign three accords. He will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri to review the progress made in the second round of Composite Dialogue.
Apart from the Ministry of External Affairs, five other ministries — Home, Telecom, Commerce, Information & Broadcasting and Tourism — will send joint secretary level officials as part of Natwar Singh’s delegation, Indian media reports said. During the visit the two sides are expected to sign agreements on pre-notification of ballistic missile tests, setting up of a communication link between the Indian Coast Guards and Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency and liberalization of visa regime for certain categories and consular access to prisoners.
The foreign ministers will also discuss prospects of the third round of talks which is scheduled to begin from January 2006 within the framework of the Composite Dialogue process. Diplomatic sources said the talks would help consolidate the ongoing bilateral peace process. Natwar Singh will also visit Karachi before returning home on October 5.
Ahead of the Singh-Kasuri meeting, Indian Defence Minister Paranab Mukherjee put forth a number of proposals. Mukherjee said list of prisoners should be exchanged by the two countries twice a year and time-frame for consular services should be made available within a span of three months. He said the liberalization of consular facilities would require an amendment to a 1982 Indo-Pakistan accord. On the visa issue further liberalization would take place with regard to another previous agreement between the two countries, which will be applicable to people coming for medical treatment, Mukherjee added.
According to him the 1974 bilateral protocol would be be amended to facilitate visits by pilgrims to shrines in each other’s country.