New Delhi, April 28: Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said a dialogue between India and Pakistan was the “ most sensible” way of taking its relations with New Delhi forward.
Qureshi’s views came a day after external affairs minister S. M. Krishna hinted at a possible dialogue between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan.
Talking to the media here on the eve of the two- day 16th SAARC summit, Qureshi said, “ Why not, one always lives in hope… I think talking and engaging is the most sensible way forward.” Krishna too echoed similar sentiments.
“ Let the PM arrive here tomorrow, then let us see how the scheduling of the bilateral meetings have been arranged. Let us look forward to it,” Krishna said.
On Tuesday, Qureshi and Krishna along with six other SAARC foreign ministers went to see a photo exhibition.
In fact, the Indian and Pakistani ministers saw the exhibition together.
Krishna ruled out a separate bilateral meeting with Qureshi on Tuesday but dropped hints that he might meet him over the next three days.
Diplomatic sources indicate a limited dialogue, focusing on terror and water disputes, is on the cards. The roadmap for future engagement including the second round of foreign secretary- level talks could also be discussed.
While the eight South Asian nations would ink two pacts on trade and environment, the focus of the summit will continue to be the expected meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani after their warm handshake in Washington during the nuclear security summit earlier this month.
Prime Minister Singh will arrive in the Bhutanese capital on Wednesday morning ahead of the summit inauguration.
If the meeting between the two PMs materialise, it will be the first formal talks between the two leaders since they met at the Egyptian resort Sharm el- Sheikh in July last year.
While India seeks a limited dialogue with Pakistan that would essentially focus on militant activities, its infrastructure and terror masterminds such as Hafiz Saeed, Islamabad wants resumption of composite dialogue.
New Delhi, however, says time is not yet ripe for composite dialogue.
Though the focus will be on terror, the water sharing dispute is also likely to come up especially since reports emanating from Pakistan have continued to blame India for the water shortage.
—Agencies