NEW DELHI, Sept 2: Foreign Minister Khursheed Mahmood Kasuri has planned a meeting with power-wielding Indian opposition leaders, including former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on the first day of his interaction with the Indian government to ensure the success of the forthcoming talks, official sources said on Thursday.

They said that Mr Kasuri, due to arrive here on Saturday, will begin the first structured talks at the foreign ministers' level since the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto-Swaran Singh talks in the early 1960s. Mr Kasuri will meet Mr Vajpayee on Sunday shortly after concluding his first interaction with Indian Foreign Minister Kunwar Natwar Singh.

The sources said Mr Kasuri would also meet former home minister Lal Krishan Advani and leaders of the Left Front, including Mr Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Mr A.B. Bardhan on Sunday, a day before his final round of talks on Monday with Mr Natwar Singh.

The talks are part of the Composite Dialogue process aimed at restoring peace between the two countries. Ahead of the crucial meeting, Mr Natwar Singh told NDTV news channel that New Delhi will raise its concerns on a spurt in alleged cross-border terrorism with Islamabad.

He also maintained that India was ready for a sustained dialogue on all issues including Kashmir. But he tried to play down expectations, saying during these talks there will be neither a breakthrough nor a breakdown in the dialogue process.

Press Trust of India said that amid preparations for his upcoming talks with Mr Kasuri, Mr Natwar Singh on Thursday held consultations with Leader of the Opposition, Mr Advani.

During the 30-minute meeting, Mr Singh apprised the former deputy prime minister of the issues to be taken up at the Sept 5-6 talks. Mr Singh also told Mr Advani about the Indian proposals, including several confidence-building measures (CBMs), on which Pakistan's response is awaited.

The minister will brief coalition partners of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on Friday about the approach to the talks. The Cabinet Committee on Security had last week discussed the negotiating points for the talks and decided that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet Opposition leaders and Mr Natwar Singh UPA partners to forge broadest possible consensus.

India has made 72 proposals during discussions on eight issues of the Composite Dialogue Process, including Peace and Security, Jammu and Kashmir and terrorism. New Delhi has said it is committed to the dialogue process but will convey in strong terms to Islamabad its serious concerns over the alleged increase in the level of infiltration and violence in Jammu and Kashmir in June and July.

Pakistani parliamentarians who have met Mr Natwar Singh this week say they expect him to propose several measures that would keep hopes for a settlement of the Kashmir dispute alive.

Mr Kasuri is expected to arrive here on Saturday to begin his rare talks with Mr Singh on Sunday. Foreign Secertary Riaz Khkhar will be in New Delhi on Friday, to pick up the threads of the conmposite dialogue with his counterpart Mr Shyam Saran on Saturday.