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PM may participate in next SAARC summit in Pak

V Mohan Narayan in Kathmandu

The South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation foreign ministers on Thursday agreed to go ahead with holding the grouping's summit in Pakistan in January, with India not totally ruling out Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's participation.

The SAARC summit will be held in Islamabad between January 5 and 20 next year, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said at the conclusion of the two-day ministerial meeting of the seven-member grouping.

Asked whether Vajpayee would undertake the trip to Islamabad, if the current Indo-Pak tensions persisted, Sinha said, "We must distinguish between SAARC and Indo-Pak relations."

"Will the UN General Assembly not be held if there is a situation between India and Pakistan? We will both be there. Similarly, we can be there anywhere in the world," he said.

Sinha said, "India is fully committed to the SAARC process. We want SAARC to prosper and become a powerful instrument of regional cooperation. It has been our endeavour not to allow bilateral contentious issues to thwart or cloud the SAARC process."

He said no bilateral contentious issues were raised at the meeting of the council of ministers.

Besides India, SAARC consists of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Nepal.

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SAARC summit opens
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SAARC leaders denounce terrorism in all forms
Angry Jaswant ticks off US move for special envoy
Vajpayee skips informal SAARC meet
India denies Jaswant-Sattar meeting
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Musharraf confirms talks with Vajpayee
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Vajpayee denies talking shop with Musharraf
Kathmandu declaration condemns terrorism in all forms
Next SAARC summit to be hosted by Pakistan
Musharraf rejects India's demand for handing over terrorists
Musharraf welcomes US move to despatch special envoy

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