The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, is leaving tomorrow on a 4-day visit to Maldives to attend the SAARC Summit on the margins of which he will meet his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Dr Singh, who is accompanied by the External Affairs Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, the National Security Advisor, Mr Shivshankar Menon, and the Foreign Secretary, Mr Ranjan Mathai, will head the Indian delegation to the summit on November 10 and 11 at Addu Islands in Maldives.
From there he will go to Male, the capital of Maldives, on a bilateral visit.
But all eyes will be on the meeting between Dr Singh and Mr Gilani that is likely to be on November 11 when bilateral relations will come up for a review close on the heels of Pakistan’s decision to give the Most Favoured Nation status to India.
There has been some sort of flip-flop on the part of Pakistan in explaining the decision, a clarity on the issue may come after the meeting.
Dr Singh and Mr Gilani had last met in Mohali in March on the sidelines of the World Cup semi-finals between the two countries. They had also met during the last SAARC Summit in Bhutan in April 2010.
Other issues, including Pakistan’s actions to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, are also expected to come up during the meeting.
Briefing reporters on the visit, Mr Mathai had said that there were indications of forward movement in bilateral ties between India and Pakistan. In this connection, he also referred to the MFN issue.
During the 17th summit, which is being hosted for the third time by Maldives, the main theme is ‘Building Bridges’ that includes improving the infrastructure of connectivity and trade and better people-to-people contact.
During the summit, four important agreements are to be finalised. These will include two agreements on regional standards, one to establish a rapid response mechanism to deal with natural disasters, and another to establish a SAARC Seed Bank.
Dr Singh’s visit to Male is expected to inject new momentum and content to India’s relations with close and strategic neighbour in the Indian Ocean. The last bilateral visit by the Prime Minister of India to the Maldives was in September 2002.
The objectives of the visit would be to reinforce India’s close bonds of friendship and solidarity with Maldives and to review the current status of bilateral relations with that country, officials said.
A number of agreements are likely to be signed during the bilateral visit and Dr Singh will address Majlis, the Parliament of Maldives.
Among the agreements are a counter-terror pact and an over-arching agreement that seeks to expand cooperation across several areas between India and Maldives.