NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday shot down US Predient-elect Barack Obama’s suggestion that former US President Bill Clinton could prod India and Pakistan into making peace over Kashmir.
Addressing a joint press conference with visiting Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee ruled out third-party intervention.
Mukherjee said Jammu and Kashmir was “essentially a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan”.
Both the Foreign Ministers advocated that the India-Pakistan cricket series – scheduled for early next year in Pakistan – should be played, despite apprehensions over the security of the Indian team.
On Thursday, the two Ministers will travel together to Chandigarh to address a seminar.
Qureshi was most enthusiastic on the issue of cricket. “The people of India and Pakistan love cricket,” he said, urging New Delhi to “let the people of the subcontinent enjoy the game”.
The series is to begin in January and there are apprehensions about exposing Indian cricketers to the danger of terror strike in Pakistan. “We will address all your security concerns,” Qureshi promised.
Mukherjee hoped the Indian cricket team will go to Pakistan and “the people will enjoy”.
On the fate of Sarabjit Singh, Qureshi said Islamabad was examining the issue and “hopefully something positive will come out of it”.
Meanwhile, the Home Secretaries from the two countries wound up their two-day meeting in Islamabad on issues like terrorism and drug trafficking.
They agreed on cooperation between the CBI and the Federal Investigation of Pakistan on issues like human trafficking, illegal immigration, counterfeit currency and dealing with wanted criminals against whom Red Corner notices had been issued by the Interpol.
this news published by www.expressbuzz.com
