Close on the heels of Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's visit to India to strengthen economic ties between the two countries, the National Association of Software and Services Companies, in association with Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), is organising the first ever India-Pakistan IT Summit in Islamabad, Pakistan on Dec 16, 2004.

Nasscom is leading a delegation of Indian IT companies to Pakistan from December 15-18, 2004, to be part of the summit.

Led by Jerry Rao, Chairman, Nasscom and Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom, the delegation will comprise India's leading IT companies like Tata Consultancy Services, HP Globalsoft, i-flex, Oracle, Mphasis, Xansa, NIIT, Computer Associates, Zensar Technologies, Mindtree Consulting, Wipro Infotech, Nucleus Software, Newgen Software Technologies, to name a few.

During the summit, Nasscom and P@SHA will sign a memorandum of understanding to increase trade and cooperation in the IT sector. The summit will feature keynote presentations, case studies and discussions from leading speakers from India and Pakistan.

Commenting on the initiative, Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom said: "Nasscom has been working with P@SHA to contribute to the growth and development of the ICT industry in both the countries. Earlier this year an IT delegation from Pakistan, led by P@SHA visited India during Nasscom 2004, the annual event for the ICT sector."

"Taking this association forward, we are leading a high level IT delegation to Pakistan to participate in the India-Pakistan IT Summit. The signing of MoU will also help provide a framework of co-operation for continuous interaction between IT companies in the two countries," said Karnik.

"India's ICT sector has enjoyed tremendous growth in the past decade. ICT companies in both countries are keen to collaborate with each other in the area of research & development, policy formulation and in exploring business opportunities together worldwide," said Jehan Ara, President, P@SHA.

"The Pakistan software industry has a diverse mix of SME players and large IT companies some of whom have developed world-class software products. This summit will be a step in the direction of exploring and cultivating trade opportunities between the two countries in the IT and ITES sector," added Ara.

The delegation will visit Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad to meet major IT companies and government officials. The summit will also provide an opportunity for delegates from Pakistan to interact and network with CEOs and senior managers of India's leading companies.