Officials of the foreign ministry and two Bangladesh missions are arranging the itineraries of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia during her two high-profile visits to Pakistan and India in February and March.

Arrangements of the visits are at the final stage, but the ministry is not likely to confirm the dates or release the itineraries for a while, a high official of the foreign ministry told The Daily Star yesterday.

The prime minister will hold talks on bilateral issues and global concerns with her Pakistani and Indian counterparts Shaukat Aziz and Manmohan Singh, the official added.

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The premier is likely to fly to Islamabad on February 12 to February 14 and to Delhi on March 20 to March 23, the official added.

Sources said Foreign Secretary Hemayetuddin is likely to announce the final date of the prime minister's visit to Pakistan on February 9.

Dhaka has asked the Bangladesh high commissions in Islamabad and New Delhi to arrange the details of the visits in association with the foreign ministries of the two countries, the sources added.

Khaleda is making the visits at the invitation of her counterparts with the aim of advancing bilateral and regional cooperation regarding a number of issues, promoting Saarc and Safta, enhancing bilateral trade and commerce, and resolving longstanding concerns.

"The groundwork for the prime minister's visits are going on in full swing," said a high official of the foreign ministry.

Full implementation of South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta), among other issues, is likely to come up during the talks with the premier's counterparts. Moreover, she may hold talks on Islamabad's non-ratification of the Safta agreement due to Indo-Pak trade related disputes.

Officials said Khaleda would have a special meeting with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and hold official talks with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

Diplomatic sources said Khaleda would push the issue of duty-free access for 102 Bangladeshi products to Pakistan. Besides, Pakistan's investment might be sought for setting up composite textile mills in Bangladesh.

They said at the official talks Bangladesh will review the entire range of bilateral issues with Islamabad, particularly trade and economic issues. The issue of repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh will also come up.

Meantime, preparations for Khaleda's first visit to India in the last four years are being fine-tuned.

The foreign offices of Dhaka and Delhi will simultaneously announce the final date of her visit to India, sources said.

A highly placed source told The Daily Star the visit may be of two to three days depending on the programmes and related factors.

Sources said the premier would hold official talks with her Indian counterpart and a meeting with ruling Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. She is also likely to call on Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam.

Trade imbalance, tariff, non-tariff barriers, border management, settlement of boundaries, sharing waters of the common rivers, human trafficking and drug smuggling would dominate the talks between Khaleda and Manmohan, said a high official.

"We have a broad-based agenda with India and the prime minister's upcoming visit will not be an one-issue visit," the official added.