ISLAMABAD: The current chill in India-Pakistan ties may have pushed away chances, for now at least, of a meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of next month's summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) at Havana, Cuba, next month.
Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam on Monday did not rule out a meeting between Musharraf and Manmohan Singh at the NAM conference in Havana, The News International reported. But she guardedly said: "They may come across each other."
Prior to the July 11 Mumbai blasts, the Pakistani media had been carrying speculative reports about a meeting between the two at Havana.
However, the train bombings that accentuated Indian suspicions about Pakistan's intentions and its support for anti-India terror groups, have given a setback to the peace process.
Home Minister Shivraj Patil told the Rajya Sabha last week that Pakistan's Inter Services Inteligence (ISI) was "sheltering and remunerating" activists of the two groups. Aslam has been quick to refute these charges.
Manmohan Singh, during his visit to Orissa on Monday, said he was not averse to meeting Musharraf but said the peace process could not move forward unless Pakistan took firm measures to tackle terrorism.
"It all depends on what Pakistan is willing to do to check terrorism in the region," the prime minister said at a press conference in Bhubaneswar.
