Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday did not rule out a one-to-one meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in Islamabad in January.
"My itinerary for Pakistan is being prepared. I shall be meeting everyone there," Vajpayee told newspersons at an 'Eid-Milan' (Eid gathering) on the sprawling lawns of the National Botanical Research Institute in Lucknow. When pressed further on whether there would be a one-to-one meeting between him and Jamali, Vajpayee remarked, "I shall be happy if Jamali meets me."
To another question, he said India had responded "positively" to Pakistan's offer of ceasefire. Expressing hope that it would continue, he said, "Defence personnel are looking into the matter."
The prime minister made light of the presence of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav at his Eid-Milan programme and the participation of two Union Ministers - Arun Shourie and Arun Jaitley - at Thursday's meeting of the State Development Council to educate Uttar Pradesh ministers about the reforms process.