Islamabad, July 18
In a series of flip-flops, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said he will not go to India for talks only for “a leisure trip” and backtracked on his earlier claim that his counterpart SM Krishna received repeated calls from New Delhi taking instructions during their July 15 parleys.

“I do not want to visit India for a leisure trip. I want to go for meaningful, constructive and result-oriented talks if the right atmosphere prevails and if they are fully prepared (for talks),” Qureshi told reporters last night.

He was responding to a question on whether he would travel to New Delhi for talks. Following a meeting with Qureshi here on Thursday last, Krishna had announced that he had invited his Pakistani counterpart to visit India for the next round of parleys.

Qureshi also said he never stated that Krishna was on the phone with New Delhi during their parleys on Thursday. “I never said Krishna himself was making calls (to New Delhi).”

He contended that whenever he and Krishna agreed on any issue during their talks here on Thursday, a member of the Indian delegation would leave the room to confer with New Delhi and seek instructions.

The Indian delegate, who left the room, would then return and convey a message to Krishna, he claimed. The Indian side would then say that the matter that had been raised was outside their “restricted mandate,” Qureshi said. The Pakistan Foreign Minister said there were about 15 to 20 persons in the room where the talks were being held and they could vouch for his comments.

The Pakistani Foreign Minister’s comments on Friday that Krishna had repeatedly received instructions from New Delhi during their talks had sparked a heated response from the Indian side.

Krishna had made it clear that he had never spoken on phone during the parleys but said it was the usual practice for foreign ministers to be in touch with their governments during diplomatic discussions.

Separately, Interior Minister Rehman Malik sought to strike a positive note, saying that the talks should not be judged “mathematically like 2+2=4” but should be seen as a “positive step”.

“It is time for exchange of hearts. Let us sow seeds of love and peace, so that future generations have only the option to reap love, and noting but love....Let us save our future generations from the disease of hate and terrorism,” Malik, who has nearly 3,500 followers, said in his latest Twitter posting.

Malik, who had a meeting with Home Minister P Chidambaram on the margins of the SAARC Interior Ministers’ conference here last month, said that they both “will move forward in terms of delivery of commitments based on what we agreed.” — PTI