Pakistan expressed hope on Tuesday night that the issue of an Indian woman diplomat being arrested on charges of spying for the Inter-Services-Intelligence would not overshadow the expected meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Thimphu.
"My information is as good as yours because it is based on media reports... You have shared nothing with us," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in Thimphu when asked to comment on the arrest of Madhuri Gupta, Second Secretary in the Indian High Commission in Pakistan, on charges of spying. He said he could not comment as she was an Indian national and an Indian diplomat.
When asked to comment on the issue, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said, "I have just heard about it. I have no clue about it." Queried whether the issue could overshadow the meeting expected between Singh and Gilani here on the margins of the SAARC Summit, a cautious Bashir said, "as of now, nothing is scheduled. (But) I hope that if interaction takes place (between the Prime Ministers), nothing is going to overshadow that."
