Search the Internet          Tips  Indo-Pak Summit

Formal Pak invitation to Vajpayee next week

K J M Varma in Islamabad

A formal invitation to Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to visit Pakistan will be handed over to him next week, official sources said on Saturday.

The sources also indicated that the next Vajpayee-Musharraf talks could be held by the end of the year either at Murree hill resort or in Islamabad itself.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's formal invitation will be presented to Vajpayee by Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, they said.

According to the sources, the contents of the invitation letter have already been finalised.

Musharraf, in a press conference on Friday, said the formal invitation would be sent shortly.

He first extended an oral invitation to Vajpayee at Agra during their first one-to-one meeting on July 15, which was accepted by the Prime Minister.

Pakistan officials expect Vajpayee's visit to Pakistan may take place by the end of the year.

Musharraf has also invited Vajpayee to address a press conference here, on the lines of his breakfast meeting with the Indian editors in Agra, when he pays an official visit to Pakistan.

Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar has already invited External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh to Islamabad for talks.

The dates of his visit were being worked out through diplomatic channels. The two foreign ministers, according to the sources, also held a telephone conversation a few days ago, exchanging views on bilateral relations and on Jaswant Singh's proposed visit to Pakistan.

Pakistan Foreign Secretary Inamul Huq and his Indian counterpart Chokila Iyer are likely to meet in Colombo on the sidelines of the Standing Committee of the SAARC Nations from August six to nine, the sources said.

The SAARC meeting was postponed in June following the assassination of King Birendra of Nepal and is being convened after a gap of more than two-and a-half years.

PTI

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report