Krishna-Qureshi talks unlikely in Kabul

Contrary to earlier reports, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is unlikely to meet his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Kabul on sidelines of the International Conference on Afghanistan, sources said on Monday.

Asserting that India will not get into a slanging match with Islamabad, the sources said that the roadmap for talks will be decided in the time to come.

Also, Krishna's invitation to Qureshi to visit India still stands.

Both Krishna and Qureshi would be in Kabul to attend the donors' conference on July 20, a bid by Afghan government officials to urge a start to the spending of billions of dollars of pledged development funds.

Indo-Pak ties witnessed diplomatic acrimony, immediately after the dialogue that ended in sharp differences, with both sides holding each other responsible for not making any headway in the parleys last Thursday in Islamabad and Qureshi making unpleasant remarks about Krishna.

However, Pakistan appeared to have piped down on July 17 with its leaders saying the country wanted continuation of the bilateral dialogue and is serious about normalisation of Indo-Pak ties.