India Rules out Meeting Between Vajpayee, Musharraf

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, December 21, 2001

India Rules out Meeting Between Vajpayee, Musharraf

New Delhi on Thursday ruled out a proposed meeting between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of the scheduled summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in Kathmandu early next month.

A spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry said at the daily briefings that the climate for such a meeting "is not propitious."

"The situation engendered by the attack on parliament house and the lack of response from Pakistan in taking action against these (terrorist) groups ... do not create a climate for dialogue (between leaders of the two countries)," she told the media here.

"The question of talking to Pakistan, given its attitude and its unresponsiveness to the need for it to take meaningful action against terrorist groups operating from its soil against India, really does not arise," she added.

The spokesperson confirmed that New Delhi had shared the evidence relating to terrorist actions with United States, Britain, Germany, France and others rather than neighboring Pakistan.

Islamabad had expressed its willingness to make a joint probe with India into the terror attack on Indian parliament last week and asked New Delhi to provide credible evidence on the involvement of terrorist outfits operating from its soil.

Indian officials and the police said that they had evidence to show that the attack was initiated and planned by two Islamic groups based in Pakistan.

Asked about Washington's suggestion that India should share evidence with Pakistan, the spokesperson said Islamabad had to take "meaningful action" on the basis on New Delhi's demand and ban terrorist outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed by India as masterminds behind the attack.

Reports from Islamabad said on Thursday that Pakistan would not ask for a meeting between Musharraf and Vajpayee in the forthcoming SAARC summit in Kathmandu.

"Though we are willing in resuming the dialogue, we will not request the Indian Prime Minister for a meeting with President Musharraf," Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar reportedly told the media in Islamabad.

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