Indian PM confirms visit to Pakistan

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, December 05, 2003

Indian PM confirms visit to Pakistan

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Indian Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee has confirmed his participation in the 12th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit to be held in Islamabad from January 4 to 6, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman said Thursday.

"The Indian prime minister has conveyed confirmation in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, in response to his letter of August 6," the spokesman said in a statement here.

"Pakistan welcomed the Indian Prime Minister's confirmation of his participation in the summit," the Spokesman added.

Besides Pakistan and India, the seven-member south Asian grouping includes Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives.

The 12th SAARC summit was scheduled to be held in Islamabad in December last year but was postponed due to refusal of Indian head to participate. The refusal was prompted in the backdrop of the December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament at New Delhi.

The new schedule of the SAARC Summit was worked out after hectic consultations of the SAARC member states and various confidence building measures taken by the two biggest members Pakistan and India had made possible the summit early next year in Islamabad.

The measures for confidence building between the two nuclear power includes restoration of full diplomatic ties, restoration of road links between New Delhi and Lahore, linking both sides at aviation level, besides willingness to boost trade and commerce.

This week the two countries also agreed to talk in New Delhi this month for resuming train linkages.

Analysts here believed that visit of Vajpayee to Islamabad could contribute significantly in the future to normal neighborly relations between the two countries.

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