Kabul:
A day after Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he would not come to India for a "leisure trip", sources in the government have told NDTV that the invitation for him to visit India stands. New Delhi says it won't be drawn into a slanging match with Pakistan.
(Read: India visit only if talks are result oriented) External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is in Kabul for an international donors' conference. More than 70 countries have sent their foreign ministers and representatives for the conference, the largest gathering of international leaders in Afghanistan since the 1970s, where the Karzai government will seek help to improve governance and national stability. Afghan President Hamid Karzai will host a dinner for Krishna Monday night.
Sources have told NDTV that no meeting is planned between Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart, SM Qureshi. However, the Indian Foreign Minister is expected to meet the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on the sidelines pf the conference on Tuesday.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today told the Pakistani leadership that the US wants the continuation of dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad so that the two sides can resolve their outstanding problems amicably, diplomatic sources said in Islamabad on Monday.
Clinton, who is in Pakistan, made the remarks after a delegation-led by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi briefed her on the meeting between the Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan here on July 15.
"The Secretary of State made it clear that the US is interested that the process between Pakistan and India should be sustained," a diplomatic source familiar with the discussions said.
The Pakistani delegation told Clinton about the reasons why the Foreign Ministers had been unable to make any headway in their talks. The Pakistani side contended that the Indian team led by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had focused only on the issue of terrorism and shown no interest in addressing Pakistan's concerns, including the Kashmir issue, Siachen and the need for a regional strategic restraint regime.
(With PTI Inputs)