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Senior Kremlin aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky, who visited Islamabad last September as President Vladmir Putin's special envoy told reporters in Moscow that 'there has been no progress in Russia-Pakistan dialogue due to Islamabad's stand on the Taleban and training of Islamic militants'.
He categorically denied Pakistan military ruler General Pervez Musharraf's claim in a recent press interview that, while in Islamabad, he had sought Pakistan's mediation for initiating a dialogue with the Taleban.
"The aim of my Islamabad mission was not to seek contacts with the Taleban. I was invited by Pakistan to launch a political dialogue, requested by Gen Musharraf in a meeting with President Putin at the Millennium Summit in New York," he said.
"I had discussed the issues of Chechnya, Afghanistan and militant bases with several senior Pakistani officials, including Gen Musharraf. There has been no change in the Pakistani stand on most of the issues, except a slight shift of accent on Chechnya," Yastrzhembsky said adding in spite of media reports President Putin has not sent any invitation to Gen Musharraf to visit Russia.
Meanwhile, the Indo-Russian working group on Afghanistan is holding its second meeting in Moscow later in June.
Foreign Secretary Chokila Iyer will co-chair the session with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov.
Islamabad's proposal to recognise the Taleban regime had met with outright rejection from New Delhi and Moscow.
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