Tharoor says Saudi can be 'interlocutor' between India, Pak

Riyadh, Feb 28 (PTI) Saudi Arabia can be a "valuable
interlocutor" between India and Pakistan, Minister of State
for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said on Sunday and
subsequently clarified that he did not mean that Riyadh should
be a mediator.

"We feel that Saudi Arabia of course has a long and close
relationship with Pakistan but that makes Saudi Arabia even a
more valuable interlocutor for us," Tharoor, who is
accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a three-day
visit to the kingdom, said.
"When we tell them about our experience, Saudi Arabia
listens as somebody who is not in anyway an enemy of Pakistan
but rather is a friend of Pakistan and therefore I am sure
will listen with sympathy and concern to a matter of this
nature," he said when asked what kind of cooperation did he
expect from Riyadh considering its close relations with
Islamabad.
Shortly after making the remarks, the minister -- who
earlier also hit headlines for his controversial statements on
social networking site Twitter on the government's austerity
measures and immigration policy -- retracted them.
"No chance of my saying Saudi Arabia should be a
mediator... Never said that or anything like it," Tharoor
said. PTI VMN/AHM
SKT


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