No immediate meeting with Vajpayee: Jamali

On Friday Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali said a meeting with his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee was not on his current agenda.

He, however, said he was hopeful that the meeting would take place in the "very near future". It would be a meaningful dialogue, he added.

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Jamali said that at present the groundwork was underway to initiate secretary-level talks, which would, in turn, determine the future of prime ministerial-level talks, The News reported on Saturday.

He parried a question referring to LK Advani's recent remarks made in the US that Pakistan was the epicentre of terrorism. He said, "This matter pertained to Indian premier and it was up to Vajpayee to decide whether the statements of his deputy were encouraging the peace process or otherwise."

Meanwhile PTI from Dehradun quoted Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes saying that there was no change in India's stand that Pakistan must stop cross-border terrorism before resumption of any talks between the two countries.

To a question, he said there was no change in the level of infiltration of militants from across the border. "More or less, things are the same on the border."

"Confidence-building measures (undertaken by the two countries) are not an indication towards resumption of the dialogue process," Fernandes, who witnessed the Indian Military Academy passing out parade in Dehradun, said.

"There has been some talks regarding resumption of bus and train services to Pakistan. But that does not mean we are moving towards resumption of talks," he said.