Archives

KATHMANDU, Jan 1 (AFP) - Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said Tuesday there was no sign of a bilateral dialogue taking place with India at an upcoming South Asia regional summit, despite Islamabad's desire for talks at any level.

"There is no indication of any kind of meeting," Sattar told AFP in Kathmandu.

"Pakistan will be very happy to have a meeting at any level, whether it is at the heads of government level or the foreign minister level," Sattar said.

"However, so far no formal proposals have been made."

In a despatch from Kathmandu, the Press Trust of India quoted Indian Foreign Secretary Chokila Iyer as confirming there would be no one-to-one meeting between Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of the January 4-6 South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit.

"No meeting has been planned," Iyer said.

While India has repeatedly ruled out direct Vajpayee-Musharraf talks given the current state of military tensions between India and Pakistan, New Delhi had hinted at a possible dialogue between the countries' two foreign ministers.

But a senior Indian official in the Nepalese capital who asked not to be identified told AFP that "in fact there will be no bilateral talks at all."

Iyer said she had not even met with her Pakistani counterpart, Inamu Haq, during preliminary talks within the SAARC standing committee.

"Both sides (India and Pakistan) did not seek a meeting. There was no interaction on bilateral issues," Iyer said. 

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager