Pak wants PM to host Musharraf

Seeking to mix cricket with diplomacy, Pakistan on Monday said its "understanding" is that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will host President Pervez Musharraf when the latter visits India to watch cricket in the ongoing India-Pakistan series.

"We are looking at the schedule of the President for his visit to India. We do not have the dates at the moment," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani told reporters in Islamabad.

Also see: India picks Kochi for Musharraf's visit

About the chances of a meeting between Singh and Musharraf during the visit, he said Pakistan's "understanding" is that the Indian prime minister would be hosting the visit and that the two would expect to make use

of it to hold talks. "Leaders make use of the high-level contacts whatever the occasion," Jilani added.

He dismissed speculation in the media that Musharraf planned to travel by the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus scheduled to
begin on April 7. "There are no such plans," he said.

Asked when the second round of the Indo-Pak composite dialogue process covering a seven point agenda would take
place, Jilani said the foreign secretaries during their meeting in Islamabad two months ago had decided to hold it between April and July.

The dates were being finalised through diplomatic channels, he said.

Also see: Amarinder in Lahore, to meet Musharraf