New Delhi, March 4 :     Foreign minister Jaswant Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz will meet on the sidelines of the two-day Saarc ministerial meeting in Colombo, beginning March 18. The exact date of the meeting is still being worked out. ?I am looking forward to meeting Sartaj Aziz. I have not met him and the Saarc ministerial meeting will provide an opportunity of doing so,? Singh said. If it materialises, this will be the first meeting between Singh and Aziz since both became foreign ministers. Singh, who accompanied Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee to Lahore, could not meet Aziz as he was busy in Islamabad looking after a high-level defence delegation from China. The meeting between the two ministers will be the first high-level contact between the two countries since the Vajpayee-Nawaz Sharif meeting in Lahore on February 20-21. The Lahore Declaration signed by the two Prime Ministers raised hopes for a possible solution of all outstanding disputes between the two sides, including Kashmir. However, subsequent remarks from the two capitals created confusion. Sharif said on Sunday if the Kashmir problem was not solved within a timeframe, he would be forced to call off talks with India. Though it was a tough statement, India refused to react, saying it was nothing more than the Pakistani Prime Minister?s attempt to address hardliners among his domestic audience. But a day later, when reports quoted him as saying Vajpayee had agreed to accept the Kashmiri people?s right to self-determination as a possible solution to the problem, the Indian side was forced to respond with a hurried denial. It became difficult for Vajpayee to remain silent as the Congress wanted an explanation about Sharif?s remarks. Given this confused background, Singh and Aziz will get a chance to clear the air and discuss steps to advance the dialogue began by the two Prime Ministers. Though foreign secretaries of the two countries will hold the main dialogue, there is a provision in the Lahore Declaration which allows the two foreign ministers to intervene and interact to ensure the dialogue process moves forward. The foreign secretaries were meant to meet in New Delhi on February 18, but called it off in view of the Vajpayee-Sharif meeting. They will now meet in Delhi in April. The expected meeting of the two foreign ministers in Colombo may perhaps set a date. It is expected the two leaders will get a chance to familiarise themselves with each other and review the joint declaration and the MoU signed at Lahore. The nuclear and missile issues, on which both sides have agreed to have confidence-building measures, is likely to be a main topic of discussion. Indications are that both sides have agreed to coordinate their responses to the US on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and negotiations on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty.