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Sunday, March 10, 2013
India welcomes Raja with ‘open arms’
JAIPUR: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf visited India on Saturday to make a brief pilgrimage to a revered Muslim shrine, with Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid welcoming him with “open arms”.
Khurshid’s warm welcome for Ashraf — making his first visit to India as prime minister — came despite strained relations between the nuclear-armed rivals over recent border clashes.
“It’s in our culture to welcome our guests with open arms,” said Khurshid, who hosted a lunch for Ashraf at the Rambagh Palace, a luxury heritage hotel in the tourist city of Jaipur in north western India.
After the lunch, the Indian foreign minister said the “issue of terrorism was not discussed” with Pakistan’s prime minister.
“This was not the occasion nor did I have the authority to discuss issues like terrorism with Pakistan,” Khurshid added. On Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told parliament ties between the South Asian neighbours could improve only if Pakistan shunned its alleged support to “the terror machine” of cross-border militancy.
A senior Indian foreign ministry official told AFP earlier there would be no “substantive talks” between the Pakistani prime minister and Khurshid and said India was “just extending our hospitality” by hosting the lunch.
Ashraf was the most senior Pakistani to visit India since last April when President Asif Ali Zardari made a similar pilgrimage and had lunch with Prime Minister Singh. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk
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