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| November 21, 2003 | Friday | Ramazan 25, 1424 |
Islamabad asks Delhi to confirm participation
ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: Pakistan said on Thursday it welcomes the statement by Indian External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will attend the Saarc Summit, but asked New Delhi to confirm its participation through official means.
“It is a good news that India will attend the Saarc summit,” Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said in his comments on the reported statement by Mr Sinha about Mr Vajpayee attending the moot in Islamabad.
Speaking to a private TV channel, the spokesman, however, stated that instead of using media, New Delhi should convey its confirmation in writing to Islamabad in line with the diplomatic norms to end the meaningless speculation about India attending the summit.
The spokesman said originally the Saarc Summit was scheduled for early this year, but had to be postponed after India refused to attend. He expressed the hope that this time India would stick to its commitment and attend the moot.
On remarks by Mr Sinha that there would not be any talks on Pakistan-India issues or one-to-one meeting of the leaders of the two countries on the sidelines of the summit, the spokesman said that Pakistan has not asked for any bilateral negotiations or any such meeting during the summit.
He said India extends such invitations by its own and then itself rejects them through media.
However, the spokesman said resumption of talks between Pakistan and India was necessary for durable peace in the region. But such negotiations would have to be held on the basis of sovereign equality, he added.—APP
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