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Naidu not keen to meet Musharraf

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has no inclination to shake hands with Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf during his Indian visit, though his Telugu Desam Party fully endorses the initiative of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to host the Indo-Pak summit.

Sharing his views on the issue at a media conference on Friday, Chandrababu Naidu said that the Telugu Desam, which extends outside support to the National Democratic Alliance government, fully supported Vajpayee's initiative for a dialogue with the Pakistani president.

"It will be in the interest of both the countries to normalise relations and focus on economic development," he said.

The TDP chief, however, expressed the 'inability' of his party leaders to attend the luncheon being hosted by the Prime Minister for the visiting dignitary at New Delhi on July 14 due to their preoccupation with the ongoing Panchayat Raj elections in the state.

The floor leaders of all political parties in Parliament are invited to the Prime Minister's luncheon.

Chandrababu Naidu, has played host to former US president Bill Clinton, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and other presidents and prime ministers from several countries at Hyderabad.

He also recently met the British Prime Minister Tony Blair at Davos and had flown to Delhi twice to meet the Microsoft chief Bill Gates.

However, he does not seem to be impressed by General Musharraf.

The Telugu Desam chief was also reluctant to hazard a guess on the outcome of the Indo-Pak summit. He evaded a direct reply and merely stressed that he supported the initiatives of the NDA government on Kashmir and other national issues.

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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