NEW DELHI, July 3: A decade ago Jalil Abbas Jilani was acting chief of Pakistan’s already depleted high commission in Delhi after the attack on the Indian parliament. Then like his boss he too was sent home through the Wagah border over unverified charges of giving money to a Kashmiri leader.

On Tuesday, the erstwhile persona non grata strolled across the familiar checkpost as Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary to hold talks with his Indian counterpart. And the two-day engagement from Wednesday has a lofty objective. It could set the stage for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to eventually visit Pakistan.

There was little to indicate imminent success though. The Indian media has been highlighting the arrest of an alleged mastermind of the Mumbai carnage after he was deported from Saudi Arabia on June 21. Abu Jundal, the media says, faithfully echoing Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s public allegations, had helped establish the direct involvement of the Pakistan state in the 2008 nightmare in Mumbai.

Mr Jilani, whose experience of India included his calm handling of the swinging fortunes at the 2001 Agra Summit, handled the Jundal issue with poise. “Pakistan will support India in its fight against terrorism.” He insisted though that India must share all evidence and information about Jundal with Pakistan.On its part, India plans to give Mr Jilani a dossier on Jundal, including the passport allegedly issued by Pakistan. Indian media says it indicates the involvement of state agencies of Pakistan in the Mumbai plot.

The ubiquitous official sources have said copies of the Pakistani passport and Pakistan’s domestic identity cards evidently issued to Jundal in the name of Riyasat Ali will be given to the visiting delegation.

The passport, which is valid till 2014, is said to have enabled him to travel to Saudi Arabia from Pakistan.

Reports said India would also hand over a list of Jundal’s Pakistani contacts given by him during his sustained interrogation here.

And, India will again place its demand for voice samples of 26/11 accused, including LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and the outfit’s operational commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

That’s what the Indian media expects the talks to focus on. Mr Jilani, however, offered a different likelihood. He started off his visit by meeting three senior leaders from Kashmir opposing Indian rule in the valley. They were Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik.

“It’s unfortunate that no headway is being made vis-a-vis Kashmir. Nothing has moved despite several rounds of Indo-Pak talks,” Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq complained after meeting Mr Jilani.

Most Kashmiris are unhappy with Indo-Pakistan relations making headway on trade issues and not their problem.

“Relations between India and Pakistan cannot be strong enough till the Kashmir issue is resolved,” said Mr Geelani, regarded as a hardline leader. He had opposed Pakistan’s decision to grant most favoured nation status to India.Mr Malik, who heads pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, asked both the countries to seize the present moment to solve the problem.

“Kashmir has witnessed transition from violent movement to peaceful struggle. This should be acknowledged by the two countries and they should push for a resolution as soon as possible. India and Pakistan cannot afford to freeze the Kashmir issue. If they don’t resolve the problem, it will have far-reaching consequences and younger generation can once again explore the option of taking up the arms,” Mr Malik said.

Even as the important issues of Mumbai and Kashmir stalked the two sides on Tuesday, the possibility of a joint statement and a joint news conference on Wednesday seems to indicate a more acceptable fare that would enable both top officials to claim progress even if it is a bit tardy.