New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) Days after Pakistans President Asif Ali Zardari formally invited him to visit Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has yet to respond, indicating uncertainty over the much-speculated trip.
On Friday, Zardari had written to Manmohan Singh and suggested that he visits Pakistan around the time of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in November.
“Our invitation for you to visit Pakistan is outstanding. Your visit will provide us an opportunity to take stock of our bilateral relations,” Zardari said.
He also promised to arrange a trip for Manmohan Singh to travel to his ancestral hometown Gah in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
“We could use that occasion to arrange a visit to your ancestral hometown. If the visit were to coincide with the birthday celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak Sahib, that would not only be well received by the Pakistani nation but also reinforce our mutual desire to promote inter-faith and inter-religious harmony,” Zardari said.
Manmohan Singh was, however, yet to respond to Zardari’s invite, but is understood to be giving serious thought to it.
In an interview recently, the prime minister had said that he would be happy to visit Pakistan provided there are tangible and concrete outcomes.
The recent disclosures made by 26/11 plotter Abu Jundal linking Pakistani state agencies to the Mumbai terror have compounded uncertainty over the prime minister’s visit as it has revived questions in New Delhi about the sincerity of Islamabad to address its concerns over cross-border terror.
However, a clearer picture will emerge after External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna’s visit to Islamabad to hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar in September.
