Second Indo-Pak Anti-Terrorism Mechanism meeting on Monday

New Delhi, Oct 21 : The second round of India-Pakistan talks on the Joint Anti-Terrorism Mechanism (JATM) will be held here on Monday, during which Islamabad is expected to raise the issue of Samjhauta Express blast inquiry report.

External Affairs Ministry Additional Secretary (International Organisation) KC Singh will lead the Indian delegation at the meeting, while Pakistan Foreign Affairs Ministry Additional Secretary (UN and EC) Khalid Aziz Babar will lead his side.

The JATM was constituted after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf met on September 16, 2006, on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Havana, to put in place a joint anti-terrorism institutional mechanism to identify and implement counter-terrorism initiatives and investigations.

India and Pakistan had agreed to exchange information about terrorism with an aim of tracking down the culprits of the past attacks and prevent incidents in future.

In March this year, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had rubbished Islamabad's demand, after the first meeting of the mechanism on March 6-7, that violence in Jammu and Kashmir could not be covered under the JATM as the state was 'disputed'.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Home Ministers will also be held here on October 25 to discuss terrorism, money laundering, drug and human trafficking.

Prior to this meeting, police chiefs from SAARC countries will meet on October 23. (ANI)

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