Islamabad keen on Musharraf-PM meet

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 20 Pakistan tonight announced that Gen. Pervez Musharraf would travel to New York on November 10 to take part in the United Nations General Assembly session and would look forward to a meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee.

In an interview to the state-run Pakistan Television (PTV), the Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar, said Islamabad desired a continuation of the dialogue process with New Delhi and looked forward to an opportunity for a meeting between Gen. Musharraf and Mr. Vajpayee in New York.

Mr. Vajpayee would be in New York on November 10 and he is slated to address the U.N. Assembly on the same day. He is expected to travel to Washington for a one-to-one meeting with the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush.

Mr. Sattar criticised what he termed India's "negative attitude" towards Pakistan ever since September 11 and maintained that Islamabad was in favour of extending the hand of friendship.

``It appears the concern of India is about gains for Pakistan in the post-September 11 situation rather than anything else. This is not the right attitude,'' he said.

The U.N. Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, had on Friday night telephoned Gen. Musharraf and urged him to come to New York and participate in the General Assembly session.

The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Mr. Riaz Mohammad Khan, speaking to newspersons earlier, said Mr. Annan had told Gen. Musharraf that the U.N. members and the world community looked forward to listening to Pakistan's views on the emerging situation.

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