Ahead of External Affairs Minister S M Krishnas Islamabad visit on July 15,the UPA government on Monday reached out to the BJP. Krishna met BJPs Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj,and the partys Leader in the Upper House Arun Jaitley,in what is being seen as a move to keep the main opposition informed about the governments peace efforts with Pakistan. While the meeting did not result in the BJP making any categorical statement of support for the governments move,sources said this was an exercise to get the optics right. Especially since exactly a year ago,the UPA had run into troubled waters after the Sharm-el-Sheikh meeting between Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Yousaf Raza Gilani. Krishna also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,where they discussed the issues he is expected to take up during his Islamabad trip. He had earlier briefed Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the steps being considered during the visit. The External Affairs Ministry said on Monday that the three-day trip was being undertaken in pursuance of the mandate given by the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan,during their meeting at Thimphu in April 2010,to the Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries of both the countries to work out the modalities of restoring confidence in the relationship,thus paving the way for a substantive dialogue on issues of mutual concern. Besides meeting his counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi,the External Affairs Minister will also call on Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari during his trip. He is also likely to meet PML-N chief and former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif and the PML-Q leadership. Sources said that the minister has met experts from think-tanks and Pakistan High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik to discuss the trip. Officials said that the scale and the arrangements being made for the visit match that of the Prime Ministers overseas trips including a 32-member media contingent and several MEA officials have been put on duty to help out the Indian mission in Islamabad for the visit. A list,calendar of do-ables New Delhi and Islamabad are working on a calendar of do-ables for the next few months. An early meeting of the India-Pakistan judicial committee on prisoners and fishermen,a possible meeting of the India-Pakistan joint working group on cross-LoC trade,a meeting between the Commerce Secretaries on bilateral trade,a meeting of the Culture Secretaries to promote cultural exchanges,and regular exchanges of parliamentarians are expected to be part of the expected tangible outcomes. A time-table of sorts may be drawn up to be implemented before the year-end when the next meeting of the two PMs on the sidelines of a multilateral summit is expected to take place. A final view on the list will be taken tomorrow at the Cabinet Committee on Security. ENS
