New Delhi, Oct 30: Nigeria, the host of the December Commonwealth Summit, today rejected Pakistan's charge that India was blocking its re-entry into the grouping and said the country could be re-admitted if the reason for its suspension in 1999 was resolved. "I do not think any particular country is blocking another country. Commonwealth works on consensus. The question of Pakistan's suspension is being addressed by a Commonwealth committee," visiting Nigerian Foreign Minister Olu Adeniji told reporters after co-chairing a meeting of 4th Indo-Nigerian Joint Commission along with external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha here.

Replying to a question on Pakistan's charge, he said, "once the committee (commonwealth ministerial action group) submits its report that the reason for Pakistan's suspension has been resolved, it will be re-admitted".

Pakistan was suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth in 1999 following overthrow of elected government of then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup by army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf in October that year. The action group has since then opposed Islamabad's re-entry.

Adeniji, who held wide-ranging talks with Sinha on a host of issues including defence cooperation, said terrorism, which has become a global menace, would figure prominently in discussions 52 heads of state or government would have at the Abuja Commonwealth Summit from December 5 to eight this year.

Bureau Report