Tariq Pervez, director general of the Pakistan's Federal Investigating Agency, will be in India on a two-day trip from March 21 to 22, 2006, to discuss how India and Pakistan could collaborate to curb the smuggling of drugs across the border and other related issues.

During his visit he would be meeting his Indian counterpart Vijay Shankar, director, Central Bureau of Investigation, and the two will hold a detailed discussion on cooperation between India and Pakistan on meeting the challenges from smugglers, gun-runners and other criminals.

The two officers will be assisted by their junior colleagues in the discussions. During the secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan in December 2005, it was emphasised that the two nations should share information about criminals operating on the border and particularly, the smuggling of narcotics. Pervez's visit is first such exchange between India and Pakistan at the highest level.

The complete itinerary of Pervez has not yet been drawn, but he is expected to call on Home Minister Shivraj Patil and other senior functionaries of the home ministry.

Nobody in the CBI was willing to talk about the visit of Pervez.