Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will not hold peace talks with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf at a South Asian regional summit in Nepal this week, a top Indian official said today.
"There's no chance of talks," the official, who did not want to be identified, said. "Even (foreign minister) Jaswant Singh will not hold talks with (Pakistani foreign minister) Abdul Sattar."
The official said leaders of the two countries would, however, not avoid each other during the summit in the Nepalese capital which is being held next week against the backdrop of heightened tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.
The nuclear-capable foes have massed troops on their common border after India blamed two Pakistani-based guerrilla groups for an attack on its parliament last month.
Earlier today, India offered peace talks if Pakistan dropped its "anti-Indian mentality" but Islamabad said New Delhi was still massing its forces and the situation remained "highly explosive."
India also called the arrest today of a leading Islamic militant by Pakistan "a step forward".
A man accused of plotting the attack on the Indian Parliament in New Delhi which killed 14 people last month was arrested in Islamabad and charged with making inflammatory speeches and inciting violence. Twenty-two other suspected militants were also detained.