Thursday, August 10 2006 11:14 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Pakistan yesterday (Aug 9, 2006) termed as 'pure fabrication' a newspaper report that some officials had taken exception to Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri's meeting with Indian High Commissioner Shivshankar Menon this week.

The report in yesterday's edition of The Nation titled 'LoC Ceasefire under Threat' was "pure fabrication and a figment of the imagination," said a statement by Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam.

No official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could have spoken to the author of the report, the statement said.

Aslam said Kasuri had hosted a lunch on August 7 for Gareth Evans, president of the International Crisis Group, to which a number of retired senior officials were invited.

Evans' visit, his call on Kasuri and the lunch were scheduled almost a month ago. The visit and discussions with Evans had nothing to do with Menon's call on Kasuri or Pakistan's relations with India, the statement said.

The report had said the Foreign Office's policy managers had invited former diplomats with expertise in Indian affairs for discussions on resolving the current impasse in bilateral ties.