NEW DELHI, Dec 8: A day after he ruled out talks with Pakistan over alleged terrorism, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee met Pakistan’s Acting High Commissioner Jaleel Abbas Jilani in a rare meeting at an Eid reception on Sunday.

“It is a pleasure meeting you,” Vajpayee told Jilani amid a barrage of flashlights as other senior diplomats waited in the queue to meet the prime minister at his residence.

Jilani told Dawn the meeting was “spontaneously warm even if brief.” He had last met Vajpayee in August during a presidential Independence Day reception.

Other diplomats mostly from Islamic countries, present at the reception at the heavily-guarded prime ministerial residence, said they thought the gesture to invite the Pakistan envoy for an unusual Eid party was suggestive of an attempt by the Indian leader to reach out to Islamabad.

Only on Saturday Vajpayee was accusing Pakistan of fomenting trouble in India and ruled out talks with Islamabad, saying the conditions were not conducive for them.

Speaking at his second election rally in Gujarat, which shares its border with Pakistan, Vajpayee said President Pervez Musharraf had been offering talks even as he promoted terrorism in Gujarat.

The rallies marked Vajpayee’s maiden foray into the election campaign in Gujarat, which will vote for a new assembly on Dec 12.

Earlier, in his first election address at Vadodara, about 140km from state capital Gandhinagar, Vajpayee complimented the state Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his controversial stewardship and asked the people to elect a government that would cooperate with the centre to ensure the state’s continued progress.

“Take care not to elect a government that could bicker with the central government. We want a hunger-free, educated and peaceful country. For this, cooperation between the states and the centre is necessary,” Vajpayee told a mammoth gathering at the polo ground in Vadodra.

There has been speculation that after the Gujarat polls India might relax travel restrictions on people from both sides, easing also the stalled air and rail traffic between the two countries.

—JN