January 2, 2002	Wednesday	Shawwal 17, 1422

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KATHMANDU, Jan 1: A top-level Indian official said on Tuesday that Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would not hold peace talks with President Pervez Musharraf at this week’s regional summit in Nepal.

“There’s no chance of talks,” the government official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. But an Indian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Nirupama Rao, said later that no decision had been taken yet on whether Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh would meet his Pakistani counterpart on the summit sidelines to defuse heightened bilateral tensions.

“No concrete decision has been taken in this regard yet,” she told reporters. She declined to elaborate.

The nuclear-capable neighbours have massed troops on their common border since India blamed two Pakistani-based groups for an attack on its parliament last month.

Earlier though, the unnamed Indian government official said “even Jaswant Singh will not hold talks with (Pakistani Foreign Minister) Abdul Sattar” at the summit, opening in Kathmandu on Jan 4.

“For talks to be held you need preparation and nothing of that sort is happening,” the official said. “Pakistan has not changed drastically (enough) for us to sit down for talks now.”

But the government official said India was not closing the door to peace discussions after the Saarc conference.

The official said Vajpayee would not avoid Musharraf during the conference.—Reuters