New Delhi, July 5: US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage is scheduled to arrive next week to hold talks with the Indian leadership on Indo-US ties and the peace process between Delhi and Islamabad.

Armitage, who is likely to be here on July 13, will travel to Islamabad the next day to hold a similar round of discussions with the Pakistani leadership.

External affairs minister K. Natwar Singh will travel to Islamabad within a week of Armitage’s visit to the subcontinent to attend the Saarc foreign ministers’ meeting and is scheduled to have another meeting with Pakistani counterpart Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri.

Although Singh had two discussions with his US counterpart Colin Powell in the past few weeks, Armitage’s visit will facilitate substantial discussions between the Bush administration and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government that came to power in May.

Armitage’s visit is significant also because he is the US pointman for South Asia and had played a key role in lowering the temperature in the region when Indian and Pakistani troops were deployed along the borders a year ago.

During his stay, he is likely to hold discussions with Singh, foreign secretary Shashank and, perhaps, national security adviser J.. Dixit. It is not clear yet whether he will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Armitage’s visit may be one of the last important visits from Washington to Delhi before the Bush administration gets busy with the presidential polls. An attempt will thus be made to review the gamut of bilateral relations and assess the progress made in key areas.