Indian govt does not want minister to receive Ahsraf

A deep divide has opened up within the Indian government over Prime Minister (PM) Raja Pervez Ashraf’s visit to Ajmer.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid is keen to receive the Pakistani PM at Ajmer but senior functionaries in the government have opposed the move saying a junior officer should be sent to receive Ashraf.
The opposition to Khurshid’s Ajmer plan ties in with the UPA taking a moral high ground after the alleged killing of two Indian soldiers along the Line of Control (LoC) in January.
There cannot be business as usual, and the foreign minister receiving a Pakistani dignitary will send out a wrong message, those opposed to the move say. “We have spelled out our reservations but the minister seems keen to go,” India Today quoted a source as saying.
Not receiving Ashraf at Ajmer will also send out a message to Islamabad which has not done anything on the issue of probing the killing of Indian soldiers or on terrorism, they say.
Khurshid may be seeking political gain in picture or diplomacy at Ajmer, but sources say that even a minister of the Rajasthan government could have been sent to fulfill protocol requirements.
Sending a union minister when the visit is not even deemed official will send out the wrong signal, and will provide an official tag to the visit scheduled due on March 9.
Despite Khurshid’s positivity, the Indian government remains keen to ensure that Ashraf’s Ajmer visit does not become an official engagement, similar to President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to the same town that turned into a full scale summit, lunch included, last year.
Meanwhile, a local priest on Friday expressed concern over Ashraf’s visit to Ajmer.
On the eve of Ashraf’s arrival, the Diwan of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti shrine in Ajmer, Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, opposed the visit in protest of the alleged beheading of two Indian soldiers along the LoC earlier this year.
Abedin said being the head of the popular shrine he would boycott the Pakistani PM when he pays reverence to the shrine on his visit on Saturday.