Musharraf invites Indian PM

Uncertainty continues over the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Pakistan to watch a match in the upcoming series. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has invited Singh to visit Pakistan to watch cricket and to further talks on their dispute over Kashmir.

"I invite him (Manmohan Singh) right here and let me say that I invite him to watch any part of the series," Musharraf told an Indian television channel on Saturday.

In Islamabad, ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said the invitation had been accepted in principle. "We have already extended an invitation to the Indian premier and he has accepted it but it's still to be decided for which match Mr Singh will come."

However, Navtej Sarna, the Indian external affairs ministry spokesman, was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying, "There are no plans to visit Pakistan for any of the matches". Sources in the Prime Minister's Office clarified that Singh had in principle only accepted an invitation extended by Musharraf when they met in New York in September 2004 and that no dates for the trip had been worked out so far.

Singh and Musharraf jointly watched the sixth one-day international between the two sides at Delhi in April last year. The two leaders had pledged to make the peace process, which began in January 2004, "irreversible."