News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

Rediff.com  » News » 'No meeting between Dr Singh, Gilani in Bhutan'

'No meeting between Dr Singh, Gilani in Bhutan'

Source: PTI
April 22, 2010 20:02 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:

No bilateral meeting has been fixed so far between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani in Bhutan during the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said on Thursday.

"As of now, no such meeting has been set up between the prime minister and Gilani," she said, adding that Dr Singh will have separate meetings with leaders from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan besides Afghanistan.

Maintaining that the situation was not ripe for the resumption of composite dialogue, stalled in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, Rao said India wants action against the perpetrators and dismantling of the terror infrastructure in Pakistan.

"The situation has not really changed in that regard because we need action in terms of movement in the 26/11 trials in Pakistan. The level of infiltration still is a cause of concern in the last few months and terror infrastructure and activities of terror groups from territories controlled by Pakistan is a matter of serious concern," she said when asked if the situation was ripe to restart the dialogue process.

She also said the Pakistan has not got back to India -- on the dossiers handed over to them at the foreign secretary-level talks in New Delhi in February -- containing information against terrorists and terror groups involved in anti-India activities, including mastermind of Mumbai terror attack and Jamaat-ud-dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.

Asked whether India has received any request from Pakistan concerning a meeting in Thimpu, Rao said, "There has been no request from Pakistan as of now."

Asked about the possibility of any interaction between Dr Singh and Gilani, she said, "I do not really want to forecast what is going to happen but let me say, a dialogue is always useful. It helps to clear the atmosphere. Especially between neighbours such as India and Pakistan, dialogue is really the way forward".

Dr Singh leaves for Thimpu on April 28 for the two-day SAARC Summit, which has climate change as its central theme.

Rao made it clear that there was no change in India's position that "dialogue represents a concrete method to move forward in our relationship" with Pakistan.

"And that is the approach we took at the recent FS-level talks with Pakistan. There is no change in that position," she said.

Dr Singh will meet Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, who will arrive in New Delhi on April 26 on his way to Bhutan. The prime minister is expected to convey India's concern over the Taliban targeting Indians in that country.

"We are constantly vigilant and seized of the matter," Rao said when asked about reports of fresh security threats to Indians in Afghanistan.

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Source: PTI© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.