NEW DELHI, May 18: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said on Sunday that President General Pervez Musharraf was not going to a jamboree of international leaders in St Petersburg this month, but wondered if he should arrange to get the president to be there.

Pakistani diplomats were tight-lipped about any likelihood of Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali instead representing Islamabad at the 300th anniversary of Russian city on May 30.

Mr Vajpayee will be visiting Moscow and then going to attend the function which will have prominent guests, including heads of the US, Germany and France.

PTI said Mr Vajpayee was asked in Manali if he would be meeting President Musharraf in St Petersburg. The prime minister responded that the Pakistani leader was not going there.

According to PTI and other news reports, Mr Vajpayee asserted that ‘cross-border terrorism’ must end to create an “appropriate atmosphere” for talks. Winding up his six-day summer retreat in Manali, Mr Vajpayee said: “Our position is this and we stick to it.”

“There is no compulsion to talk,” he said when asked why India was taking peace initiatives when alleged cross-border terrorism continued.

About Pakistan’s overture of releasing Indian prisoners on Saturday, Mr Vajpayee said: “Several steps have been taken and more must be taken. A process has begun. Let us see how these steps are linked with ending cross-border terrorism.”