Thursday, December 23 2004 22:08 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Pakistan today (Dec 23, 2004) made it clear that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would attend the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation) summit in Dhaka next month and not President Pervez Musharraf, but did not rule out possibility of a meeting between the General and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "some time in the future".

"As far as our preparations are concerned Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will be participating in the SAARC summit, but you cannot rule out possibility of the meeting between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh some time in the future," Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan told reporters in Islamabad.

Khan's clarification followed remarks by US Secretary of State Collin Powell recently that there was a possibility of Musharraf-Singh meeting during the SAARC summit to be held in Dhaka in the second week of January. Powell made the remarks after meeting Musharraf during the General's visit to the US.

Khan said there was also a possibility of meeting between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan on the sidelines of the SAARC summit. "The leadership of Pakistan and India likely to meet at Dhaka."

Officials here said the talks between the two Prime Ministers would provide an opportunity to review the progress of the peace process as such a meeting would be held after the scheduled parleys between the Foreign Secretaries to be held here on December 27 and 28 to kick start the second round of the Composite dialogue to discuss Kashmir and other issues.

Aziz had earlier visited India in November as the outgoing chairman of the SAARC.