"We welcome the Indian prime minister's confirmation of his participation in the summit," Khan

Asif Farooqi, IOL Correspondent

ISLAMABAD, December 4  (IslamOnline.net) - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee confirmed Thursday, December 4, his participation in the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit, to be hosted by the Pakistani capital Islamabad on January 4-6.

In a letter to his Pakistani counterpart Zafarullah Jamali, Vajpayee said he would be pleased to travel to Islamabad and attend the summit of the seven-member SAARC, grouping Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

"We welcome the Indian prime minister's confirmation of his participation in the summit," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan told reporters.

"The Indian prime minister has conveyed this confirmation in a letter addressed to Pakistan's prime minister Zafarullah Jamali in response to his letter of August 6."

The summit was originally planned for last year but was postponed following India’s refusal to show up for the summit.

Any SAARC summit requires the representation of every state member at the highest level.

Vajpayee has announced earlier that he would be meeting his Pakistani host on the sidelines of the summit.

But formal agenda of the meeting or whether the two leaders would discuss the disputed issues is not clear yet.

However, Khan told reporters in a briefing on Monday, December 1, that while in Islamabad the Indian premier would hold meetings with Jamali and other senior state leaders.

He said such meetings between the two premiers would contribute to bringing their countries closers.

The foreign ministry spokesman added that the two leaders may decide the time and venue for talks resumption and may also direct their respective teams to meet on an agreed time.

After a proposal from Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Islamabad and New Delhi agreed Monday, December 1, to resume suspended air links.

The two countries severed air links after the December 2001 attack on India's parliament, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-backed Kashmir separatists, a charge vehemently repudiated by Islamabad.

As the moon of Eid al-Fitr lit up the night sky over Pakistan and India, guns fell silent along the disputed borders between the two south Asian arch rivals, which agreed to a ceasefire starting Tuesday night, November 25.

The ceasefire, the first in at least 14 years, was proposed by Jamali in his nationwide address on Sunday, November 23.

The nuclear-armed neighbors started a process of rapprochement after Vajpayee offered a symbolic hand of friendship to Pakistan in April.

His efforts paid off with the two countries restoring full diplomatic ties on May 2 to settle half a century of disputes "for the economic and social betterment of their peoples."

The jerky start to peace moves led to the resumption of a bi-weekly bus service, but the two rivals are yet to re-start train or air services.