United States believes that the SAARC summit at Kathmandu can provide a platform to India and Pakistan where they can work out their differences. Thus, US has urged the leaders of both the countries to utilize their presence at the summit to move forward towards resolving contentious issues. State department spokesman Richard Boucher said at his daily briefing in Washington, “The foreign ministers and other officials are in Kathmandu now. President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee will also be there, and we hope that they will use the opportunity to move towards resolving their differences”.
To a question on Vajpayee ruling out a face-to-face meeting with Musharraf, Boucher replied, “I am not going to talk about the specifics of who has to see whom on what day. That is up to them to decide. We think it is an opportunity for them, having officials, leaders, foreign ministers, other people, all in the same place, to look for ways to resolve their differences. I will leave it at that. They can decide exactly what they might do”. On India`s stand that SAARC meeting should not discuss bilateral disputes like the India-Pakistan dispute, the spokesman said, “We are not a South Asian nation. I will leave it to the countries involved to decide what they want to do in their meetings”.
Bureau Report