Qazi promises a successful summit

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JUNE 25. The Pakistan High Commissioner, Mr. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, today held talks with the Samajwadi Party leaders, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr. Amar Singh, as part of his consultations with Indian leaders ahead of the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf's visit.

Mr. Qazi has already met the former Prime Ministers, Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao, Mr. V.P. Singh, Mr. H.D. Deve Gowda and Mr. Chandrashekhar.

Mr. Qazi today also met the Chief of Protocol, Mr. Manbir Singh, to iron out details of the trip.

Officials from the two sides are engaged in deciding on a suitable venue for the summit in Agra. A protocol team from the Ministry of External Affairs has already visited Agra.Three hotels - Amar Vilas, Jaypee Palace and Mughal Sheraton - have been shortlisted. The spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on the possibility of a meeting between representatives of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference and Gen. Musharraf.

Government sources pointed out that since Gen. Musharraf's concern at the moment was to ensure that his meeting with th Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, progressed without any hitch, he might not insist on a meeting with the Hurriyat. The spokesperson also declined comment on the possibility of discussions on the proposed Iran-India gas pipeline during the summit meeting.

UNI adds:

Talking to presspersons after meeting the Samajwadi Party leaders, Mr. Qazi said, ``It is going to be a very successful summit; I promise you that. We are very confident that this is the beginning of very successful relationship between the two countries.''

Asked about the agenda for the summit talks, he said agendas were never discussed at summit level. ``When two senior political leaders meet, they discuss whatever they like. On the political level, whatever they feel is very important, they discuss.''

Describing the July 15 summit as an ``extremely important occasion in India-Pakistan relations'', Mr. Qazi said leaders in both countries were very happy that the two neighbours were now talking.

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