New Delhi, June 20: The Cabinet Committee on Security is understood to have firmed up agenda today for upcoming Home Minister and Foreign Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan.

The CCS, at a two-and-a-half-hour long meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is believed to have reviewed the situation in the sub-continent ahead of the key meetings later this week.

India and Pakistan is expected to take steps to reduce trust deficit between the countries when Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao meets her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir on Thursday.

This will be followed by Home Minister P Chidambaram’s visit to Islamabad for a meeting of SAARC Interior Ministers on June 26.

Chidambaram is also scheduled to meet Pakistan Interior Minister Rahman Malik. The CCS is believed to be of the view that it was Pakistan’s responsibility to ensure that groups operating from its soil should not be able to carry out such attacks as any such strike in future will have a very “damaging impact”.

Chidambaram is likely to seek information about actions taken by Islamabad to rein in Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafeez Saeed.

Foreign Secretary Rao is expected to explore avenues to reduce the trust deficit between the two countries.

Besides conveying India’s serious concerns over terror by Pakistan-based groups and speedy conclusion of the trial of those involved in 26/11 attacks, Rao is also likely to explore ways to increase people-to-people contact and trade across the LoC in Kashmir.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST