Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid is likely to meet Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's foreign policy adviser, in Kyrgyzstan on Sep 13, said informed sources here.

 

 

 Khurshid is to pay an official visit to the Kyrgyz Republic to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of State Summit on Sep 13. During Sep 12-15 he will be in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. 

 

 While informed sources said Khurshid and Aziz would be meeting on the sidelines of the SCO in Bishkek, Sep 13, Indian external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin declined to confirm it. The spokesperson said the Indian minister would be meeting several leaders of participating countries of the regional organisation. He said Khurshid would hold "informal conversations" with several leaders but there would be "no full-fledged dialogue".

 

 He said India was working on arranging the meetings with different leaders, and there was no finality.                   

 

 India is an observer at the SCO since 2005 and has been participating at the ministerial level at these summits. The six-nation SCO comprises Russia, China and the energy-rich Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

 

 Khurshid "is expected to meet bilaterally with dignitaries from other participating states on the margins of the Summit," said an official statement.

 

 The Khurshid-Aziz meeting is likely to try and schedule a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Sep 29.

 

 Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry had said in Islamabad on Sep 5 that the Khurshid-Aziz meeting "could be a useful opportunity to engage in a constructive dialogue to discuss ways of building mutual trust and improving bilateral relations".

 

 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said he will have to factor in "certain harsh realities" like India being affected by terror before arriving at a "final decision" on meeting Sharif in New York.

 

 In Uzbekistan, Khurshid would hold bilateral discussions with Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and also chair a conference of Indian Heads of Mission in the region, said a statement.

 

IANS