Chidambaram may visit Pak for Saarc
The Saarc interior/home ministers' conference is scheduled to be held from February 20 for three days in Islamabad.
Home minister P Chidambaram may travel to Islamabad for a three-day Saarc conference from February 20.
The minister told newspersons on Thursday that he was keen to travel to Pakistan “subject to clearance from the ministry of external affairs”.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh and external affairs minister SM Krishna will have the final say on whether Chidambaram does travel to Islamabad.The interior ministers’ conference is an annual affair, and the last meeting was held in Sri Lanka. To be attended by ministers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, it is expected to witness discussions on regional cooperation for dealing with the menace of terrorism, narcotics and organised crime.If Chidambaram is allowed to visit Pakistan, it will be a significant step, given the state of relations between the two neighbours. It will be the first ministerial visit to Islamabad after the 26/11 terrorist strike in Mumbai.