ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is unlikely to travel to Port of Spain for the upcoming Commonwealth Summit later this month, scotching the possibility of a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

‘The prime minister will possibly not be attending the summit,’ a senior prime ministerial aide told Dawn on Friday.

The Commonwealth heads of government meeting, to be held in Trinidad and Tobago from Nov 27 to 29, had created immense interest in Pakistan and India because of the possibility of yet another meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries whose only direct official contact has been on the sidelines of an international event since the suspension of peace talks in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks last year.

The hopes of a Gilani-Singh meeting in the Caribbean were bolstered by some overtures by the Indian prime minister, which were believed to be an indication of New Delhi’s readiness to resume dialogue. At the end of his recent visit to occupied Kashmir, Mr Singh had said there were no pre-conditions for talks and that his government was willing to discuss all issues.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office had welcomed Mr Singh’s offer. It is believed here that Prime Minister Gilani, who will be embarking on a European trip on Nov 30, is not keeping away from the event merely because of domestic compulsions. Analysts are of the opinion that the political crisis in the country sparked by government’s snafu over the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance may enter a crucial phase around Nov 28 when the ordinance will lapse.

Sources close to the prime minister, however, insisted that the decision against travelling to Port of Spain was taken because Mr Gilani did not want to be out of country for a long time.

Background discussions with senior diplomats revealed that Pakistan was compelled to skip the chance of meeting Mr Singh because India did not respond to the roadmap for resumption of composite dialogue Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had suggested to his Indian opposite number Mr S.M. Krishna in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in September.

According to the proposed roadmap, the two sides were to announce resumption of the composite dialogue at the prime ministers’ meeting in Port of Spain.

With India neither proposing a meeting between the two leaders in the aftermath of the Pakistani proposal nor giving its response to the suggestion, Pakistan was left with no choice but to drop prime minister’s visit to the Caribbean port city.

Foreign policy analysts say that in view of Mr Singh’s volte-face over the Sharm el Sheikh joint statement in which he had agreed to de-link resumption of dialogue from action against terrorism and hold talks on all outstanding issues, there are few takers for Indian prime minister’s pronouncements.

Discussions with Indian diplomatic sources also suggest that notwithstanding Mr Singh’s public statements there is no desire in New Delhi to resume dialogue with Pakistan as they see little benefit accruing to India.

Besides, the government is under increasing pressure from the security establishment to take a strong line on revival of dialogue. It was in this context that the Foreign Office in a rejoinder to Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao’s statement asked New Delhi to ‘explain its own conduct in sponsoring and abetting terrorism and militancy in our region’.