Search the Internet          Tips

G-8 may not send envoy to India, Pakistan

Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham on Tuesday indicated that given the gradual easing of tensions between India and Pakistan, the Group of Eight nations might not press ahead with a proposal to send him to the region as their envoy.

Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight nations -- Canada, Britain, the United States, Japan, France, Italy, Germany and Russia -- open two days of talks on Wednesday at which the standoff between India and Pakistan will dominate the agenda.

The group, helping to prepare the ground for a summit of G8 leaders in Canada at the end of the month, will decide whether Graham should be sent to India and Pakistan to reinforce diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing a war.

"I would not want to go unless it was essential and unless the other G8 ministers believed it was important for me to go at this time," Graham said in the British Columbia resort of Whistler, where the foreign ministers meeting will take place.

"Right now we are looking at the fact that many other people have already been there. I hope the tensions will continue to diminish and that it will not be necessary for the G8 to intervene at this moment. But if we think there is a need I am very ready to go there," he said.

Terrorism Strikes in Jammu: The complete coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report