No bilateral meeting between Manmohan and Gilani in Bhutan

(PTI)

No bilateral meeting has been fixed so far between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani in Bhutan during the SAARC Summit, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said on Thursday.

“As of now, no such meeting has been set up between the Prime Minister and Gilani,” she said, adding Dr. Singh will be having separate meetings with leaders from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan besides Afghanistan.

Maintaining that the situation was not ripe for resumption of the composite dialogue, stalled in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, Ms. Rao said India wants action against the perpetrators and dismantling of terror infrastructure in Pakistan.

“The situation has not really changed in that regard because we need action in terms of movement in the Mumbai trials in Pakistan.

“The levels of infiltration still are cause of concern in the last few months and terror infrastructure and activities of terror groups from territories controlled by Pakistan is a matter of serious concern,” she said when asked if the situation was ripe for restarting the dialogue process.

She also said the Pakistan has not got back to India on the dossiers handed over to them at the Foreign Secretary- level talks here in February containing information against terrorists and terror groups involved in anti-India activities including mastermind of Mumbai attack and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.

Asked whether India has received any request from Pakistan for the meeting in Thimpu, Ms. Rao said “there has been no request from Pakistan as of now.”

Asked about the possibility of any interaction between Dr. Singh and Mr. Gilani, she said “I do not really want to forecast, what is going to happen but let me say, dialogue is always useful. It helps clear the atmosphere. Especially between neighbours such as India-Pakistan, dialogue is the really the way forward.”

Dr. Singh leaves for Thimpu on April 28 for the two-day SAARC Summit which has climate change as its central theme.

Ms. Rao made it clear that there was no change in India’s position that “dialogue represents a concrete method to move forward in our relationship” with Pakistan.

“And that is the approach we took at the recent FS-level talks with Pakistan. There is no change in that position,” she said.

Dr. Singh will meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who will arrive here on April 26 on his way to Bhutan. The Prime Minister is expected to convey India’s concern over the Taliban targeting Indians in that country.

“We are constantly vigilant and seized of the matter,” Ms. Rao said when asked about reports of fresh security threats to Indians in Afghanistan.

On the Summit, Ms. Rao said it was being held for the first time in Bhutan and marks the 25 years of establishment of SAARC.

Two agreements will be signed at the Summit relating to environment and trade in services, she said.

The Trade in Services pact will enable the realization of the region’s immense potential in areas such as health, hospitality, communications, computer and information services and air transport.

The SAARC Convention on Environment was expected to promote cooperation among the member countries in the field of environment and sustainable development.

She said the SAARC Development Fund (SDF) Secretariat, proposed by India in 2008, will be inaugurated in the forthcoming Summit.

The Summit is also expected to endorse the rules, regulations, academic and business plans of the South Asian University in New Delhi.

Over the years, SAARC has emerged as a model of regional cooperation in dealing with issues of regional concern such as poverty, food security, trafficking in women and children, terrorism and drugs.