Setting a positive tone ahead of their meeting in Thimphu, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir on Sunday said they would endeavour to find a way forward for continued engagement between the two countries. "We are resuming our contact after interregnum of some time. We have a number of issues to be discussed. As we have always said that dialogue between India and Pakistan is necessary and a must if we are to satisfactorily resolve the outstanding issues between our two countries," she said.

"We have a number of outstanding issues. So, we are going into this with an open mind and constructive attitude," Rao said.

Noting that her Pakistani counterpart would also have a "number of ideas" to discuss, Rao said, "so, this is going to be exploratory discussion and we hope that through this process, we can find a way forward."

Bashir separately said he was looking forward to his meeting with Rao. "My expectations are that we should be working towards continued engagement," he said. He said the two Foreign Secretaries would be preparing for engagement between their Foreign Ministers.