Possibility of Gilani, Manmohan meet at SAARC, hints Pakistan

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Apr 24 (PTI) Pakistan has said Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani will hold bilateral meetings with his
counterparts from regional countries during the SAARC summit
in Bhutan, leaving open the possibility of an encounter
between him and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Though the Foreign Office had earlier said that no
meeting between Gilani and Singh had been scheduled on the
sidelines of the SAARC summit to be held in Thimphu during
April 28-29, an official statement said the Pakistani premier
would meet his counterparts in Bhutan.
Though the statement issued by the Foreign Office did
not specifically name the Indian premier, it said Gilani "will
be holding bilateral meetings with his counterparts as well as
representatives of observer states.
Pakistan favours SAARC linkages with observers and
international institutions to promote project-based
development cooperation."
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said on Thursday
that no bilateral meeting between Singh and Gilani had fixed
so far.
She also said in response to a question that Pakistan
had not made a request for such a meeting.
However, The News daily quoted an unnamed Foreign
Office official as saying that Pakistan was surprised by Rao's
remarks.
The official said such a meeting was part of a roadmap
presented by Pakistan to India to normalise their relations.
"We are really surprised at the Indian Foreign
Secretary's statement and would like to remind her that
Pakistan proposed a roadmap first in New York and then at the
meeting of the Foreign Secretaries in New Delhi on February
25, 2010," the official said.
"We had proposed a meaningful engagement between our
two countries, including a summit, between the two Prime
Ministers in Bhutan on the sidelines of the SAARC summit.
We are still awaiting India’s response to our
roadmap," he added.
Gilani is heading Pakistan's delegation to the SAARC
summit, which will be preceded by the Council of Ministers and
meeting of the Standing Committee. (MORE) PTI RHL
PRS