Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei): External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha on July 30 night said India does not shy away from holding dialogue with Pakistan but it will not serve any purpose as long as Islamabad continued to foment cross-border terrorism.

"We are not against any dialogue (with Pakistan) but if cross-border terrorism is there and killings continue it would not be fair to expect India to start dialogue," Sinha said before he began his first bilateral meeting with his Canadian counterpart on the eve of the seventh annual meeting of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum (ARF).

Sinha made these comments when asked by reporters about India's response to a call by the ASEAN Foreign Ministers to India and Pakistan to resume immediate dialogue and resolve their differences through peaceful means.

Sinha said there could be a possibility of his meeting the US Secretary of State Colin Powell. "Let us see", he said when asked if he was meeting the American official.

The Indian minister has already lined up at least nine bilateral meetings including with his counterparts from Canada, Russia and China.

He replied in the negative to a query if he and Powell were in touch with each other after the latter's talks with Pakistani leaders last week.

PTI