No decision yet on Qureshi-Krishna meeting in New York: Pak

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Sep 23 (PTI) Pakistan Thursday said "no
decision" had yet been made on a meeting between Foreign
Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart S M
Krishna on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in
New York.
The possibilities of such a meeting "are still being
explored" through diplomatic channels though "there is no
decision as yet," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told a
weekly news briefing.
Pakistan, he said, has always insisted on the resumption
of a "comprehensive, meaningful, sustained and
result-oriented" dialogue with India.
Pakistan will welcome it if India is willing to resume
such a dialogue, he said.
At the same time, it was important for India to stop
"ongoing atrocities in Kashmir," Basit said.
It is "incumbent on India to include the situation on the
ground" if it is "genuinely looking forward to a
result-oriented dialogue with Pakistan," he added.
Responding to a question on Krishna's invitation to
Qureshi to visit India later this year, Basit said the trip is
dependent on "whether India agrees to a comprehensive and
sustained dialogue with Pakistan."
He pointed out that Qureshi has said on many occasions
that it is important for India and Pakistan to get down to
"real hard business" and to resolve disputes and normalise
their relations instead of "meeting for the sake of meeting
and photo-sessions."
Asked if Pakistan is setting conditions for Qureshi's
visit to India, Basit replied: "There are no conditions
because we have always said that Pakistan will never accept
any pre-conditions for negotiations. But what we are saying is
let's negotiate, let's talk on all issues. Unlike India's
stance following the Mumbai attacks, our position is based on
principles."
Pakistan wants negotiations that cover all issues and are
comprehensive, sustained, meaningful and result-oriented, he
maintained.
"I think logic demands that if the two countries are
talking to each other and they are resuming their
negotiations, they should be all-encompassing," he said. PTI
RHL
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