No car was offered by India to PM Nawaz: FO

Published November 20, 2014
Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam. — AFP/File
Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam. — AFP/File

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam on Thursday said no car was offered by India to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the upcoming SAARC summit in Nepal, adding "so there was no question of turning down the offer".

"Prime Minister Nawaz will attend the summit," Aslam told reporters in Islamabad.

On Nov 17, a Nepalese official had said that Prime Minister Nawaz rejected the use of a bulletproof car provided by India for summit of South Asian leaders in Kathmandu.

Read: Pakistan snubs India over bulletproof car at SAARC summit

Sharif “will be bringing his own car ... all other vehicles for [visiting] heads of countries have come from India”, Nepalese foreign ministry spokesman Khaga Nath Adhikari had said.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit will see the leaders of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India and Pakistan meet in Kathmandu on November 26 and 27.

Speaking on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's visit to the country, the FO spokeswoman termed it as successful.

Read: Let’s bury the past and move on, says Afghan president

At the end of his two-day path-breaking visit, Ghani had vowed to open a new chapter in ties with Pakistan.

“We must overcome the past … we will not permit the past to destroy the future,” he had said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

She also emphasised on Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu's visit to the country, saying that it was extremely important and bilateral cooperation between the two countries were expanding.

"Cooperation between Pakistan and Russia is increasing and ties are on upward trajectory," Aslam said.

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