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The headlines in Pakistan's credible and widely read Dawn tells it all. The paper, reflecting panic in the mind of the President, ran a screaming headline "Zardari avoids Sharm El Sheikh meeting with Singh" and went on: "President Asif Ali Zardari has dropped his plan to attend the 15th Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh where, according to an announcement, he was to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh".
The Islamabad-datelined story said the Pakistan delegation to the summit will now be led by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. "Our prime minister will be attending the NAM summit," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said.
The plan was changed after the Yekaterinburg meeting between President Zardari and Prime Minister Singh on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which, according to diplomatic sources, became 'unpleasant' at the outset because of Singh's 'rude' remarks.
Before the start of the ice-breaking meeting, the Indian premier bluntly told President Zardari in presence of reporters that his mandate was limited to telling Pakistan that it should not allow its soil to be used for terrorism against India.
The remark irked President Zardari who immediately asked the media to be escorted out of the conference room. In a press statement issued after the meeting, President Zardari's office had announced that the two leaders would get together again in Sharm El Sheikh.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had also confirmed the Sharm El Sheikh meeting between the two leaders. Sources claimed that the president had decided to skip the Sharm El Sheikh trip to avoid another encounter with Singh.
The FO spokesman played down Zardari's decision not to attend the summit and said: "It was agreed that there will be another meeting of the political leadership of the two countries during NAM summit."
The Islamabad-datelined story said the Pakistan delegation to the summit will now be led by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. "Our prime minister will be attending the NAM summit," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said.
The plan was changed after the Yekaterinburg meeting between President Zardari and Prime Minister Singh on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which, according to diplomatic sources, became 'unpleasant' at the outset because of Singh's 'rude' remarks.
Before the start of the ice-breaking meeting, the Indian premier bluntly told President Zardari in presence of reporters that his mandate was limited to telling Pakistan that it should not allow its soil to be used for terrorism against India.
The remark irked President Zardari who immediately asked the media to be escorted out of the conference room. In a press statement issued after the meeting, President Zardari's office had announced that the two leaders would get together again in Sharm El Sheikh.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had also confirmed the Sharm El Sheikh meeting between the two leaders. Sources claimed that the president had decided to skip the Sharm El Sheikh trip to avoid another encounter with Singh.
The FO spokesman played down Zardari's decision not to attend the summit and said: "It was agreed that there will be another meeting of the political leadership of the two countries during NAM summit."
