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NEW DELHI, Jan 6: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, returning to the Indian capital from a Saarc summit in Nepal, ruled out on Sunday any immediate talks with Pakistan to ease bitter tensions between the two foes.
“Nothing as of now,” he said in response to questions about chances of talks to defuse the military standoff between the two countries.
Vajpayee, who met with President Pervez Musharraf informally on the sidelines of the Saarc summit in Kathmandu during the weekend, said nothing of substance was discussed between the two men.
“Just greetings were exchanged. We asked (each other) how things were and the conversation ended there,” he told reporters ahead of a meeting with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is in India to urge Vajpayee to move towards dialogue with Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
PEACE TALKS: India intends to talk to Pakistan in the future even though talks have been suspended for now, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was quoted as saying in Kathmandu on Sunday.
“The talks have stopped now, but they will take place in the future,” Vajpayee told a meeting of Nepalese newspaper editors, as quoted by Yubaraj Ghimire, editor of the Kantipur daily.
“We are neighbours and we have had talks in the past,” the Indian prime minister was quoted as saying.
Vajpayee left Nepal on Sunday following a seven-nation regional summit, at the close of which he met President Pervez Musharraf for at least 10 to 15 minutes, according to Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga. — Agencies
