India maintains suspense over Manmohan-Sharif meet in New York

India today maintained suspense over whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York later this month while underlining the "harsh realities" with regard to continued export of terror and other hostile activities emanating from there.
"The Prime Minister's programme is still in the process of being firmed up," Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said, adding she could not say whether or not the meeting would take place.
She was responding when asked by reporters here whether the two Prime Ministers would be meeting when both are in New York to attend the UN General Assembly later this month.

Singh, who will leave for the US on September 25, will be in New York from September 27 to 30.
When pointed out that Sharif has made "positive" statements recently, she quoted the Indian Prime Minister to say that there are certain "harsh realities" on the ground.
Elaborating, she said "the harsh reality on the ground is that we continue to face acts of terrorism by groups operating from Pakistan and territories under the control of Pakistan.
"There are also many persons engaging in hostile propaganda against India, who continue to roam freely in Pakistan. Despite repeated commitments from the highest level in Pakistan and very positive statements, there is very little progress in efforts to punish those responsible for the Mumbai attacks. These are the harsh realities. So let us see what happens.