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Pakistan said on Monday that Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation meeting in Islamabad in the second week of January 2003.
"According to our information, he is very much coming. He will be here from January 11 to 13...," foreign office spokesperson Aziz Ahmad Khan said.
Pakistani papers have started speculating about the possibility of a meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and Vajpayee.
Asked who would represent the country at the SAARC summit, he said, "According to the precedents, it was the chief executive [Musharraf]... In the current scenario it will be the elected prime minister who will preside over the January 2003 meeting."
Asked if the de-escalation move by India would pave the way for improved ties, he said: "Pakistan hopes that good sense will prevail in India and it will come to the dialogue table. The real tension will end when Pakistan and India will resume talks."
Khan rejected allegations that Pakistan had transferred nuclear technology to North Korea. "Such reports are totally baseless and tendentious. Pakistan is a very responsible country and its nuclear arsenals are safe. Pakistan has not and cannot transfer nuclear technology to any country."
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