Both sides work to iron out wrinkles over joint statement

While no formal comment was made, a senior official said differences do come up in formulating such a statement and voiced confidence that the matter should be resolved before Musharraf flies out to Manila tomorrow after his session with editors.

Earlier in the day, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran had said that the assurance in the January 6 statement had ‘‘opened up new opportunities for improvement’’ of the relationship. This was also conveyed by the PM to Musharraf as he welcomed the fact that Pakistan had condemned the terrorist attack on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus.

The positive tenor of the meeting between the two leaders could be gauged by the fact that they agreed on the progress made through the implementation of CBMs.

According to Saran, Musharraf agreed that the process should be continued and while deadlines or timelines cannot be imposed, it was important for both sides to address outstanding issues.

While there was no media interaction from the Pakistani side after Saran’s briefing, it was expected that Musharraf may meet the Pakistani media separately. This, sources said, was cancelled keeping in mind the confusion that had followed in the Pakistani camp over finalising the joint statement.