Ban did not discuss Kashmir with Pak PM: UN

The Kashmir issue did not came up for discussion between UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani when the two leaders met on the sidelines of the NAM Summit in Egypt.

"On the issue of Kashmir, if it had been discussed, I think we would have been aware of it," UN spokesman Michele Montas told reporters here, when she was asked if the issue was discussed between Ban and Gilani and if the latter asked the Secretary-General to offer his good offices for mediation between India and Pakistan over this issue.

"No, I don't think the issue came up. I don't have a detailed readout of the meeting. But, what I have doesn't seem to indicate that... We would have been told about that if it had been the case," Montas said.

Montas said the meeting with Gilani included a discussion of the Bhutto Commission and upcoming meetings of the Group of Friends of Democratic Pakistan.

Ban also met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the margins of the Summit at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. During the meeting the UN chief raised the issue of improvements in the conditions in the internally displaced persons camps, and also brought up the arrests of UN staff, Montas said.

There was no meeting scheduled between Ban and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she said.