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Straw leaves tomorrow morning,
only to return in the evening

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who leaves for Islamabad on Saturday morning after a rather lukewarm reception in New Delhi, will be back in the Indian capital the same evening for a second round of talks.

Straw would leave for Islamabad at 8 am on Saturday and return to New Delhi around 7 pm. He would catch the Sunday morning (12.40 am) British Airways flight to London.

Between his arrival at 7 pm Saturday and departure at 12.40 am Sunday, Straw is expected to talk to Indian leaders again.

Straw arrived in New Delhi on Thursday evening and met National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra at noon on Friday and External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha at 3.30 pm.

Indian sources said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy Lal Kishenchand Advani did not give Straw time in a show of their disappointment with the hollow promises that the US and the UK brought from Pakistan last time.

Also, for the first time in Straw's recent visits, he and his Indian counterpart, did not hold a joint press conference at the Hyderabad House.

Officially, the British high commission in New Delhi maintains that it is due to "logistical problems" that Straw would be coming back to New Delhi.

Mishra, sources said, was aggressive during his meeting with Straw. He questioned the credibility of the assurances that the US and the UK had given India about Pakistan taking steps to stop cross-border infiltration.

Government officials said intelligence inputs about Musharraf asking militants to stop infiltration for "four to six weeks" after his May 27 speech were spot on. India believes that from June 24 onwards infiltration picked up again.

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