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No immediate plan for talks: PM
KATHMANDU, JAN. 6. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, today made it clear that there was no ``immediate plan'' for bilateral talks with Pakistan but said they could hold talks in the future. ``India and Pakistan are neighbours. They have held talks in the past and they will hold talks in the future also,'' he said at a meeting with leading Nepalese journalists before leaving for New Delhi after attending the SAARC summit here.
According to one of the journalists, Mr. Vajpayee expressed the view that there was need to further strengthen the SAARC. ``The association will deviate from its objectives if we get engaged in political disputes,'' he said, referring to the proposal of the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, that bilateral issues between member-countries should also be taken up by the forum.
The Prime Minister said, ``SAARC should concentrate on the issue of the uplift of the backward people of this region. India would continue to do whatever is possible to make the regional grouping successful.''
`Courtesy call'
Mr. Vajpayee described as a mere `courtesy call' his informal meeting with Gen. Musharraf, which the General claimed covered ground on defusing tension between the neighbours.
- PTI
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