Resumption of talks not discussed with Pakistan: Menon

Yekaterinburg (Russia), June 16 (ANI): Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon today ruled out resumption of dialogue with Pakistan after the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Asif Ali Zardari, which lasted for 40 minutes.

Talking to reporters after the meeting between two leaders, Menon said India had conveyed its expectations to Pakistan vis a vis terror and 26/11 probe, it did not discuss resuming the talks between the two countries.

He also said that Dr. Singh and Zardari would meet again in Shram-el Sheikh in Egypt on the sidelines of NAM Summit next month to take stock of the outcome of the Foreign Secretaries meet.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the most sensible thing would be to resume dialogue with India as soon as possible.

As the leaders of India and Pakistan met for the first time since the Mumbai terror attacks took place on November 26 last year, the talks between Dr. Singh and Zardari is seen as a start in allowing both countries to repair relations.

Qureshi told reporters in Yekaterinburg that it is in mutual interest of the two countries to resume the stalled dialogue between two nuclear-armed nations.

"I think the most sensible thing would be to resume the dialogue as soon as possible. It is in our mutual interest to do so," said Qureshi.

The Pakistan's Foreign Minister added that terrorism is not country specific and has to be dealt with unitedly in a decisive manner.

"We are victims of terrorism, but as a nation we have decided to act in a decisive manner and there has been lot of dislocation," he said, apparently referring to the situation in the Swat Valley.

Stressing on building a consensus, Qureshi added that all the leaders present at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Russia have agreed for regional cooperation against terrorism. (ANI)