ISLAMABAD, Feb 21: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said he will not attend the Saarc ministerial conference scheduled for Feb 27-28 in Colombo, dashing hopes for his first encounter with Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee after the Mumbai attacks.

“Dates of the conference clash with dates of my meetings in Washington,” he told reporters here on Saturday while explaining the reason for not attending the conference. Minister for State Malik Amad Khan and Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir will attend the conference.

Answering a question, Mr Qureshi said Pakistan would proceed further with its investigations into the Mumbai attacks only after receiving a reply to the 30 questions it had forwarded to India.

“We are waiting for the Indian response and will take the next step in the light of the reply,” he added.

Pakistan had on February 12 sent to India a set of 30 questions, along with its response to the Indian dossier on the Mumbai attacks.

Pakistan has sought the statement of Ajmal Kasab, the lone-surviving terrorist of the Mumbai attacks, he gave to Indian authorities, his fingerprints and accomplices who had taken part in the attack, intercepted conversation, details of seven SIMs used by the attackers, ID cards and photo images of the nine other terrorists.

Mr Qureshi said that by replying to the Indian dossier, Pakistan had shown its ‘seriousness’ and ‘good intentions’. “We are treating the issue seriously and our effort is to get to the bottom of the matter.”

The minister parried a question about the delay in seeking extradition of Ajmal Kasab, saying only that the matter was under review.

Answering another question, he said Pakistan would try to end West’s confusions over the peace agreement reached with the Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi in Swat.

“We will explain to them (the West) the local situation and the objectives for which these steps have been taken. We’ll also put forward our point of view and I believe that the confusion will end,” he said.

Referring to the statement of US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, he said there were already indications that “the dust was settling down”.

Mr Qureshi said Pakistan had decided in principle to reopen its embassy in Baghdad. The embassy was closed in 2005.