Islamabad: A 13-member Indian parliamentary delegation will arrive here tonight on a two-day visit as part of the Track-2 dialogue process.
The Indian MPs will meet their Pakistani counterparts here and would hold discussions on a number of issues including bilateral trade and water among others.
They will be here for the Pakistan-India Parliamentarians Dialogue-V, organised by Pakistani think tank PILDAT.
“The idea is to have discussion between parliamentarians who have their hand on the pulse of the people,” Joint Director of PILDAT Aasiya Riaz told PTI.
She added, “They can talk more candidly on areas on which at times the governments cannot.”
Riaz, who first organised such a visit way back in 2001 said the MPs can influence the policies of the government and help in bridging the gap.
“It is also to keep the dialogue continuing. In the life of India and Pakistan, bilateral dialogue has broken down many a times due to various reasons and these exchanges help the dialogue process,” she said.
The Pakistan Institute for Legislative Development and Transparency was set up during the tenure of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf but is an “an independent, non-partisan and not-for-profit indigenous think tank focussed on political and public policy research and legislative strengthening.”
PILDAT had also organised the visit of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to Pakistan last year.
“Besides MPs, we are also focusing on interaction at provincial-state levels,” Riaz said.
The delegation led by Congress' Mani Shankar Aiyar, also includes Kirti Azad of BJP, K C Tyagi of JD(U), Asaduddin Owaisi of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen and D P Tripathy of NCP.
Ramaswamy R Iyer, former Water Resources Secretary will also be part of the delegation.
Advisor to the Pakistan Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and National Security, Sartaj Aziz will host a lunch for the Indian parliamentarians.
