10-26-2006, 10:04 AM
<b>Pak affair may start at Aiyar daughter wedding</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->
New Delhi, Oct. 25: The newly-appointed minister for external affairs, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, will get an opportunity to exchange notes and possibly ideas for moving forward the stalled India-Pakistan peace process when he meets his Pakistani counterpart Khurshed Mehmood Kasuri in New Delhi next month.
The wedding of Mr Mukherjeeâs Cabinet colleague Mani Shankar Aiyarâs daughter Yamini in November is expected to be the occasion for their interaction.<b> Mr Aiyar, who is a former Indian Foreign Service officer, is a friend of Mr Kasuri.</b> Mr Aiyar was travelling and could not be contacted, but sources at his office and residence in New Delhi on Wednesday indicated that the wedding ceremony, reception and associated functions would be spread over at least three days as the wedding will be solemnised as per South Indian customs and traditions.
âThe wedding of Mr Aiyarâs daughter Yamini will be spread over several days between November 23 and November 27,â an aide of Mr Aiyar told this newspaper. When contacted, another aide at the ministerâs residence said that the Pakistan foreign minister was among the VIP invitees likely to attend a function in connection with the wedding on November 26 in New Delhi.
Mr Aiyar was travelling on an official visit to Sikkim and was not expected to return to New Delhi before Thursday evening, the aide said. While the ministry of external affairs is circumspect about the prospects of an unscheduled meeting between Mr Mukherjee and Mr Kasuri, the Pakistani media have quoted sources in Islamabad as saying that the Pakistani foreign minister will pay an official-cum-private visit to India next month and that the schedule for the visit and his meetings in New Delhi will be worked out next week through diplomatic channels.
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New Delhi, Oct. 25: The newly-appointed minister for external affairs, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, will get an opportunity to exchange notes and possibly ideas for moving forward the stalled India-Pakistan peace process when he meets his Pakistani counterpart Khurshed Mehmood Kasuri in New Delhi next month.
The wedding of Mr Mukherjeeâs Cabinet colleague Mani Shankar Aiyarâs daughter Yamini in November is expected to be the occasion for their interaction.<b> Mr Aiyar, who is a former Indian Foreign Service officer, is a friend of Mr Kasuri.</b> Mr Aiyar was travelling and could not be contacted, but sources at his office and residence in New Delhi on Wednesday indicated that the wedding ceremony, reception and associated functions would be spread over at least three days as the wedding will be solemnised as per South Indian customs and traditions.
âThe wedding of Mr Aiyarâs daughter Yamini will be spread over several days between November 23 and November 27,â an aide of Mr Aiyar told this newspaper. When contacted, another aide at the ministerâs residence said that the Pakistan foreign minister was among the VIP invitees likely to attend a function in connection with the wedding on November 26 in New Delhi.
Mr Aiyar was travelling on an official visit to Sikkim and was not expected to return to New Delhi before Thursday evening, the aide said. While the ministry of external affairs is circumspect about the prospects of an unscheduled meeting between Mr Mukherjee and Mr Kasuri, the Pakistani media have quoted sources in Islamabad as saying that the Pakistani foreign minister will pay an official-cum-private visit to India next month and that the schedule for the visit and his meetings in New Delhi will be worked out next week through diplomatic channels.
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