Islamabad, Nov 20: Pakistan has welcomed Indian External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha's reported statement that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would attend the Saarc summit in Islamabad in January next year but asked new Delhi to officially confirm its participation through the diplomatic channels. "It is a good news that India will attend the Saarc summit," Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesman Masood Khan said reacting to the reported comments by Sinha to Pakistan TV channel, geo about Vajpayee attending summit in January next year. Speaking to the same channel, Khan said India should officially confirm its participation in the summit through the diplomatic channels to end the "meaningless speculation" instead of conveying it through media. Referring to Indian reservations in holding bilateral talks, Khan said Pakistan has not asked for any bilateral negotiations or any such meeting during the summit. "We have only invited them to attend the summit," he said.
He said India extends such invitations to hold talks on its own and then later reject them through media. But at the same time the resumption of talks between Pakistan and India was necessary for durable peace in the region. Such negotiations would have to be held on the basis of sovereign equality, he said.

Bureau Report