As part of this aggression on the foreign affairs front, Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Sharad Pawar is slated to visit South Africa on September 14 and will carry a letter from Congress president Sonia Gandhi to South African President Nelson Mandela. Also, Congress foreign affairs department head Natwar Singh will head a delegation to China whose relations with India have soured since Pokhran-II.

This is part of the overall Congress strategy to work on all vital areas for a few months as preparation before it seeks to gain power at the Centre. Pawar will head a delegation comprising largely of Maharashtra leaders, most of whom are expected to represent the sugar lobby in the State.

Apparently, Pawar received an invitation three months ago to visit South Africa and is supposed to be responding to itnow. However, he becomes an important messenger by virtue of Sonia's letter. Though the letter was yet to be formally drafted, sources said she is likely to refer to India's strong links with South Africa starting from Mahatma Gandhi's days.

The long struggles both countries had to launch before gaining freedom are also likely to find a mention. But there was no report on whether Sonia would refer to the recent episode over Mandela's statement on Kashmir in the NAM summit, which led to a controversy between the two nations. The Indian side quickly took it up saying Mandela was wrong in raking the Kashmir issue on such a platform, as it was essentially a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.

Mandela then said he was sorry to have raised the Kashmir dispute in the manner he did. The Congress, though, has come down heavily on the ruling BJP-led coalition for its handling of the Mandela episode. Natwar Singh had said yesterday that the government should have sent Vice-President Krishna Kant in advanceto South Africa to ``properly brief'' Mandela on the Kashmir issue.

The Congress felt that even if Mandela had raised the Kashmir issue, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee should have spoken to the South African President in private instead of joining the debate publicly. There is no confirmation yet on whether the Congress stand will be incorporated in Sonia's letter.

The party delegation's visit to China is also being considered important in Congress circles. Natwar Singh was formally invited to China yesterday by the chairman of the external affairs department of China, Congress spokesperson Ajit Jogi said today. He added Singh had accepted the invitation and would go to China. However, the Congress hasn't yet decided on whether to send a delegation with Singh nor has it fixed any dates for his visit.

New Delhi's relations with Beijing worsened after the government cited China as an example of the security threat to India which led to the recent Pokhran nuclear tests. Vajpayee had mentioned China inhis letter to US President Bill Clinton and Defence Minister George Fernandes has said on more than one occasion that China was the main threat to India.