Krishna, Qureshi likely to talk tomorrow

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi are expected to hold telephonic talk tomorrow to discuss ways to reduce trust deficit in pursuance to the decision reached between Prime Ministers of the two countries in Thimphu.

Krishna had told Rajya Sabha on last Thursday that he would talk to Qureshi the next day but sources said it could not happen due to scheduling mismatch.

The telephonic talk is now expected tomorrow, the sources said.

The two Foreign Ministers are expected to discuss when and where they could meet. They are also likely to discuss about the next meeting of the Foreign Secretaries.

When asked when the telephonic talk could take place, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash today said the two sides are trying to identify a "mutually convenient" time slot for the telephonic conversation.

He noted that in Thimphu, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani had asked their External Affairs Ministers and Foreign Secretaries to meet as soon as possible.

"So you know that the framework is already there. The only thing is to decide to identify the mutually convenient time slot to have the conversation and both the countries are in touch with each other to identify that slot," Prakash told reporters here.

Singh and Gilani, who met on the sidelines of SAARC Summit, had asked the Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries to discuss ways to reduce "trust deficit".

On Thursday, Krishna had said India had decided to have a dialogue as there has been a "transformation" in ties with assurance coming at the level of Pakistan Prime Minister that India's "core concern" with regard to terrorism would be addressed adequately.