Turkey and India to discuss troop issue

The Prime Minister is also expected to hold a series of bilateral meetings with several leaders, including US President George W Bush and Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

However, there will be no meeting between Vajpayee or any member of his delegation with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf or at any other level.

Vajpayee’s first stop from New Delhi will be Turkey, where he will hold wide-ranging talks with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The issues on the agenda include developments in neighbouring Iraq, the West Asia crisis and terrorism. It will be an Indian Prime Minister’s first visit to Turkey in 15 years and several agreements are likely to be signed by the two countries.

These include one on establishment of a Joint Working Group on terrorism and others relating to extradition, science and technology, information technology and computer software.

A 50-member business delegation with representatives from FICCI, CII and other business bodies would also be participating in the business meet, as part of the Prime Minister’s two-day stay in Ankara.