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Pak has invited Vajpayee for SAARC: Kasuri

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said that Islamabad has invited Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the SAARC summit to be held in January.

"We have invited the prime minister of India for the SAARC summit. The ball is in their court now. What more does the international community expect from Pakistan?" the new foreign minister told a news channel.

Reacting to Kasuri's remarks, Minister of State for External Affairs Digvijay Singh said that the ball is, in fact, in Pakistan's court. He said that they should take action on the issues raised by India like the need for an immediate halt to cross-border terrorism.

Kasuri's comments came close on the heels of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's claim that the new government will work for the settlement of the 'core dispute' without altering its Kashmir policy.

The new foreign minister said every 'sensible Pakistani and sensible Indian' will want improvement in relations between the two countries. "We have suffered enough due to our bad relations," he said.

Noting that stability in the region was necessary for its economic development, Kasuri indicated that India must do something since Pakistan alone cannot do everything in this regard. "You need two to tango," he said.