Pakistan Foreign Minister cuts short Indian visit

New Delhi, Jun 28: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi cut short his visit to India and left for his country early this morning as his mother-in-law passed away in Lahore.

Mr Qureshi, who had arrived here on Friday, June 27 morning on a four-day visit to India, held talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The news was conveyed to Mr Qureshi while he was attending a dinner hosted by the Pakistan High Commission here. He immediately left for Lahore at about 0100 hrs in an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane as the special aircraft in which he and other members of his delegation had come, had already been sent back. Alongwith Mr Qureshi, other members of his delegation also left for home.

The Pakistan Foreign Minister, who held talks with the External Affairs Minister on carrying forward the Composite Dialogue Process (CDP) into its fifth round, was scheduled to meet former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani and former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh today. He was also scheduled to meet a delegation of the Hurriyat.

Mr Qureshi was to leave for Jaipur, Ajmer and Chandigarh tomorrow.

UNI