NEW DELHI, April 20: India on Thursday again played down the option of third party mediation to settle longstanding disputes with Pakistan, PTI reports.

This came a day after Saudi Arabia claimed that its King Abdullah was trying to resolve differences between India and Pakistan. “India and Pakistan are discussing all bilateral issues under the Composite Dialogue process and there is no scope for mediation by any third party,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said when asked about the Saudi claim.

Saudi Crown Prince Sultan, who is also deputy prime minister, was quoted by the state-run SPA news agency on Wednesday as having said: “King Abdullah has set in motion efforts to mediate between India and Pakistan.”

National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan, who returned from Saudi Arabia about 10 days ago, said third party mediation was not possible. He, however, said India was “willing to listen to anyone”, pointing out that “there are lot of people trying to help out”.—Online