Manmohan-Gilani meeting delayed by an hour

Thimphu (Bhutan), Apr.29 (ANI): The much awaited meeting between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan to be held here on the sidelines of the XVIth SAARC Summit, has been delayed by an hour.

Sources here said that no reason has been forthcoming as to why the meeting between the leaders of the two countries has been delayed.

Earlier in the day, Indian External Affairs MInister S M Krishna had said that New Delhi wants good relations with Pakistan.

Speaking ahead of the bilateral talks between Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani, Krishna said there was no point reacting to remarks made by the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit or anyone else representing Islamabad.

"We are not going to react on the remarks made by anybody and everybody," the minister said.

Basit had last night said that India and Pakistan should follow-up from the talks held at the Egyptian resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh in July in 2009 and it should be the foundation of any talks between India and Pakistan.

"Our expectation is that the meeting would result in a meaningful and irreversible engagement between the two countries," Basit told mediapersons here on Wednesday on the sidelines of the XVIth SAARC Summit.

"We want both countries to come to an agreement," he added.

While Pakistan is insisting that the Sharm-al-Sheikh document, which delinks terrorism from composite dialogue, should be the basis for talks, India is sticking to its position that there can be no composite dialogue, but only a channel of communication open till Pakistan takes credible action against the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks in Mumbai.

"Dialogue is the only way forward. And secondly, the peace process should not be overshadowed by issues of terrorism," Basit said.

According to the reliable sources, it is going to be a brief affair in terms of bilateral talks between India and Pakistan before the concluding session of SAARC Summit. (ANI)