`Never said Krishna got directions`

Pak FM S M Qureshi further said he will not go to India for talks only for "a leisure trip".

Islamabad: In a series of flip-flops,
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said he
will not go to India for talks only for "a leisure trip" and
backtracked on his earlier claim that his counterpart S M
Krishna received repeated calls from New Delhi taking
instructions during their July 15 parleys.

"I do not want to visit India for a leisure trip. I want
to go for meaningful, constructive and result-oriented talks
if the right atmosphere prevails and if they are fully
prepared (for talks)," Qureshi told reporters Saturday night.

He was responding to a question on whether he would
travel to New Delhi for talks in view of Indian government`s
current position.

Following a meeting with Qureshi here on Thursday last,
Krishna had announced that he had invited his Pakistani
counterpart to visit India for the next round of parleys.

Qureshi also said he never stated that Krishna was on the
phone with New Delhi during their parleys on Thursday. "I
never said Krishna himself was making calls (to New Delhi)."

He contended that whenever he and Krishna agreed on
any issue during their talks here on Thursday, a member of the
Indian delegation would leave the room to confer with New
Delhi and seek instructions.

The Indian delegate, who left the room, would then return
and convey a message to Krishna, he claimed.

The Indian side would then say that the matter that had
been raised was outside their "restricted mandate", Qureshi
said.

The Pakistani Foreign Minister said there were about 15 to
20 people in the room where the talks were being held and they
could vouch for his comments.

Separately, Interior Minister Rehman Malik sought to
strike a positive note, saying that the Indo-Pak talks should
not be judged "mathematically like 2+2=4" but should be seen
as a "positive step".

"It is time for exchange of hearts. Let us sow seeds of
love and peace, so that future generations have only the
option to reap love, and noting but love... Let us save our
future generations from the disease of hate and terrorism,"
Malik, who has nearly 3,500 followers, said in his latest
Twitter posting.

Malik, who had a meeting with Home Minister P Chidambaram
on the margins of the SAARC Interior Ministers` conference
here last month, said that they both "will move forward in
terms of delivery of commitments based on what we agreed."

"The roadmap of commitment and performance between me and
H.E. Mr Chidambaram is fully intact," Malik said in his
message posted on the social networking website.

Foreign Minister Qureshi said that he and Krishna
had "agreed on many issues" during informal talks over dinner
the night before their parleys.

However, things changed during the formal talks on July
15, he said.

He further clarified that he had not said that Krishna
had come to Islamabad with no mandate.

"What I said is that he had a restricted mandate,"
Qureshi said.

Qureshi also said he did not have "any doubt" about
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Krishna`s positive attitude
and desire to improve relations with Pakistan.

The Pakistani Foreign Minister`s comments on Friday that
Krishna had repeatedly received instructions from New Delhi
during their talks had sparked a heated response from the
Indian side.

Krishna had made it clear that he had never spoken on
phone during the parleys but said it was the usual practice
for Foreign Ministers to be in touch with their governments
during diplomatic discussions.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul
Basit said: "It is very clear that India is not willing at
this point of time to engage with Pakistan in discussing the
core issues for instance Jammu and Kashmir, peace and security
issues and we think that all issues are important."

"Terrorism is equally important and we would try to
discuss that with India," he said, adding that issues like
Siachen are also there for so many years.

"There are issues and there are disagreements but as
far as Pakistan is concerned, I think what is important for us
is that the mandate and expectation," he told a news channel.

PTI

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