Pakistan to decide soon on sending NSA to India

New Delhi, Nov 2: Pakistan is likely to decide this week about whether to send its National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf to New Delhi for a conference on the situation in Afghanistan, official sources familiar with the development said on Monday, according to The Express Tribune.

India extended the invitation to Yusuf to attend the regional conference being hosted by the Indian NSA Ajit Doval. The Foreign Office in Islamabad confirmed the invitation but said the decision would be taken at an appropriate time.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi earlier said Pakistan's decision would be based on keeping in view the current state of the relationship between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

But the fact that Pakistan is considering the Indian invitation shows that unlike the past Islamabad has not outrightly rejected it, the report said.

"The decision will be taken soon," a senior government official said without dropping any hint on whether the NSA would go to New Delhi.

If Pakistan sends its NSA to New Delhi, it would be seen as a major development in view of the continued tensions between the two neighbouring nations.