Sonia, Advani accept invitation to visit Pakistan

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has accepted an invitation from Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to visit Pakistan. Her visit and the dates would be worked out through diplomatic channels, a spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said.

Musharraf and Gandhi met for about half-an-hour today where they are said to have discussed "important aspects of the Indo-Pak relations". Gandhi was accompanied by External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said at the meeting, Gandhi had recalled "great fondness and enthusiasm" with which her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka had been received in Pakistan last year.

Later, Congress leader Ambika Soni said though it was a "courtesy call" by the UPA chairperson on the visiting dignitary, Gandhi's "enormous moral stature and political clout lent its weight to all confidence-building measurer of our government".

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha LK Advani also called on the Pak President at the Taj Mansinh Hotel (when the President is staying), and in the half-an-hour meeting between the two, terrorism was discussed among other things. Advani told the press that he would probably visit Pakistan in June.

Advani also said he had conveyed to President Musharraf that the "distrust" between India and Pakistan was hampering normalisation of relations between the two countries.

He said the issue of terrorism was brought up at the meeting and that the President had talked about "mutual intransigence" as the reason for the delay in resolving issues.

Advani, however, said he had lauded the Pak President's January 2004 statement in Islamabad during the Saarc summit, that Pakistani territory would not be used for anti-India terrorist activities.

This, Advani said, had led to a breakthrough. "Since the joint statement between Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was Prime Minister then, and Musharraf, things have been moving constantly in the right direction and as we move forward, we will sort out the problems".

He, however, evaded a question regarding the comparison between the Agra Summit in July 2001 and the current talks.

President Musharraf presented the BJP leader with an album containing photographs from his schooldays. Advani, who had studied in the same school as the Pak President, said they had a hearty discussion for "quite some time" about their old school.

Musharraf is expected to call on Vajpayee tomorrow morning before leaving for Manila. Musharraf is likely to handover some gifts to the former Prime Minister, sources said.The two leaders share good relationship since the Agra summit.