ISLAMABAD, Sept 16: Pakistan on Tuesday took serious exception to Indian External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha’s remarks in which he had objected to Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri’s visits to Saarc capitals to extend invitations to heads of government for the upcoming summit.

In a rejoinder to India’s rebuff to Mr Kasuri’s intended visit to New Delhi next month, Pakistan said: “The government of Pakistan has taken due notice of the remarks of the Indian external affairs minister and will accordingly exclude India from the list of countries where the foreign minister intends to visit to personally deliver letters of invitation during the second leg of his tour.”

The letter of invitation to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would be delivered through other diplomatic channels as suggested by Mr Sinha, said a foreign ministry statement.

In an interview to the Hindustan Times at the weekend, Mr Sinha had said: “We haven’t heard officially about it (Mr Kasuri’s visit), we will take a view when it comes. I would like to say that the foreign ministers of countries do not go around delivering invitations to the head of governments; there are other diplomatic channels available”.

Expressing surprise at the “rather inappropriate remarks” by Mr Sinha, the Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman said it was regrettable that the Indian minister had objected to the Pakistani foreign minister’s visits to Saarc capitals.

“The Indian minister’s remarks were not only discourteous but also reflected his utter contempt for South Asian cultural values, traditions of hospitality and established Saarc practice,” the spokesman said.

The Indian minister was reminded that it was a Saarc tradition that was being strictly adhered to by the countries of the region interested in the continuation of the Saarc process.

The spokesman pointed out that Mr Sinha’s remarks confirmed the apprehensions of all Saarc countries that India was not only disinterested in the Saarc process but it also had no intention of engaging Pakistan in a dialogue to resolve all outstanding disputes, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir.

The spokesman said the Pakistani foreign minister during his recent visit to some of the Saarc capitals had received tremendous support for the continuation of the Saarc process.

The spokesman expressed the hope that India would emulate other Saarc countries and would not disrupt the Saarc summit as it did in the past.

Pakistan is to host the 12th Saarc summit from Jan 4 to 6.

Pakistan had last month informally conveyed to all Saarc countries that in keeping with the Saarc tradition it would send its foreign minister to deliver invitations for the upcoming summit. All countries, except India, had responded positively and indicated dates when their respective heads of state would be available to receive the foreign minister. Indian response came on Monday and that too through a public pronouncement by its foreign minister.

The 12th Saarc summit was initially slated for Jan 11-13 this year in Islamabad but Pakistan had to postpone it after India failed to confirm its participation in the meeting.