Saarc conference: India rules out accepting Pakistan’s invitation to Modi

NEW DELHI: India ruled out the possibility of accepting an invitation from Pakistan for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit, slated to be held in Islamabad.

Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said that the Kartarpur corridor initiative is not connected with the dialogue process with Pakistan, hours before the groundbreaking of the corridor in Pakistan’s Narowal district.

Addressing a press conference, the minister thanked Pakistan for accepting India’s longstanding demand for opening of the Kartarpur corridor, but clarified that it does not mean that bilateral talks will begin soon.

“Bilateral dialogue and Kartarpur corridor are two different things. I am very happy that for the last 20 years, rather many years, government of India has been asking for this Kartarpur corridor. And for the first time, Pakistan has responded positively to this,” Swaraj was quoted as saying by Indian media. “But this does not mean that the bilateral dialogue will start only on this,” she added.