New Delhi, Dec. 2 :    New Delhi, Dec. 2:  The search is on for a new envoy to Pakistan. The Indian high commissioner in Islamabad, Vijay Nambiar, is scheduled to leave for New York as India's permanent representative to the United Nations, replacing Kamlesh Sharma, early next year. Indications in the foreign ministry suggest Ronen Sen, India's ambassador to Berlin who is scheduled to replace Nambiar, may not go to Islamabad. Sen, who has heart problems and recently underwent surgery, may not be fit to take charge of the Islamabad mission, known to be a 'stressful posting'. Manilal Tripathi, currently in Dhaka as the high commissioner, appears to be the frontrunner for the Islamabad post. If Sen cannot be moved from his current post, it will create problems for T.C.A. Rangachari, slated to be his successor in Germany. Rangachari, an assistant secretary looking after the UN in the South Block, may either have to stay in his present job or go to Dhaka. Both Rangachari and Tripathi have worked in Pakistan before. Although 'stressful', the job of the Indian high commissioner in Islamabad is a high-profile assignment. In the past, diplomats who have headed the Islamabad mission have gone on to become foreign secretary. However, questions are now being raised whether India should keep its best diplomats hostage to Pakistan by posting them as high commissioner there. Nambiar, for instance, considered by most as a brilliant career officer, could not do much, given the strain in bilateral ties. Moreover, unlike in other countries, the Indian envoy's access to Pakistani officials and other ambassadors in Islamabad is limited. The nature of the envoy's job could, however, change if talks between India and Pakistan are resumed after the proposed meeting between Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pervez Musharraf during the Saarc Summit in Kathmandu from January 4-6. South Block officials feel the recent developments in Afghanistan, which led to the ouster of the Taliban regime from Kabul and directed the focus of the international community on global terrorism, would henceforth play an important role in India-Pakistan relations. Musharraf had extended an invitation to the Prime Minister to visit Pakistan soon after the Agra summit. The Pakistani foreign minister, Abdus Sattar, had invited his Indian counterpart Jaswant Singh.