December 28, 2003	Sunday	Ziqa’ad 4, 1424

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NEW DELHI, Dec 27: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will visit Pakistan to attend the Jan 4-6 South Asian summit despite an assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf, the government said on Saturday.

“The prime minister will go there,” said Foreign Secretary Shashank, who uses only one name.

“President Musharraf has said he is the target. He is making fool-proof arrangements. We are going by that,” Mr Shashank told reporters.

“There is no doubt incidents of terrorism have increased in Pakistan.. but that does not mean security cannot be taken care off.”

Asked whether India was satisfied with security in Pakistan, Mr Shashank’s reply evoked laughter among reporters. “We will tell you when we come back.”

But New Delhi said Vajpayee had no plans to meet President Musharraf or Prime Minister Jamali separately.—Reuters/AFP