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Vajpayee not to meet Musharraf in NY

September 15, 2003 20:01 IST
Last Updated: September 15, 2003 20:36 IST


India on Monday ruled out any meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf or any other bilateral meeting between the two sides on the margins of the forthcoming UN General Assembly session.

During his parleys with US President George W Bush and other world leaders, the prime minister will brief them on his peace initiative and also India's concerns over Pakistan taking no tangible steps to put an end to cross-border terrorism, Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal said in New Delhi.

He also indicated India's thoughts on moves by Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mohammed Kasuri to come to New Delhi and invite Vajpayee to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation meeting in Islamabad in January 2004.

"It is not as if under the SAARC Charter or on the basis of established practice personal handing over of invitation is required. It is a different matter that X, Y or Z may choose to do so. But this is not a requirement," he said.

Observing that the summit dates and the invitation to attend it were there, he said, "There is no need to reinforce the invitation by any personal invitation."

The foreign secretary stressed that in order to make the summit meaningful, "it is necessary that there is forward movement on the economic agenda because SAARC does not have any meaning without a robust economic agenda".


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