Sources say that the Americans are very keen to initiate some dialogue between the two embittered neighbours in Washington. Although they would prefer to arrange a proper meeting between the two prime ministers on the sidelines of the nuclear summit in Washington next week, New Delhi’s continued refusal to hold political level talks with Islamabad makes it look impossible.
Diplomatic observers, however, do not rule out the possibility of a brief encounter.
Meanwhile, both Indian and Pakistani diplomats in Washington are indicating that the two sides could hold prime minister-level discussions in Bhutan on the sidelines of a Saarc summit in late April.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh will spend two days in Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, which provides them with the opportunity to resume their bilateral talks stalled since their first meeting in Egypt in July last year.
Their foreign secretaries, however, did meet in New Delhi on Feb 24 but the talks did not lead to any breakthrough.
India did not accept the Pakistani roadmap for improving bilateral ties which envisaged a meeting between their foreign ministers in Islamabad followed by the summit meeting in Thimphu.
Instead, the Indians demanded that Pakistan must show sufficient resolve to curb groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Pakistan, however, is more concerned about the water dispute with India.
Source: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/gilanisingh-meeting-likely-in-bhutan-040
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