Krishna says was never invited by Qureshi for tea

NEW DELHI: Surprised over the reports that Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had invited him for tea at the Roosevelt Hotel, India’s External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has said that he never received any such invitation. "If he has invited then I don't know the mode of invitation through which it was conveyed to me, but let me be very honest that I have not received any invitation," Krishna said in New York.

"If he said it, I have not received the invitation. I would have been delighted to accept his invitation for tea in Roosevelt Hotel... if I had only got the invitation," he said.

Qureshi, who was staying at the Roosevelt hotel five blocks down to the New York Palace where Krishna is residing, told reporters that he had even invited Krishna to tea at his hotel.

"I have told them that I am willing to come wherever they want me to come," he said, urging journalists to find out why the talks had not taken place.

"If you have problems coming to Roosevelt, I will come to you," he said, noting that he didn't have a chip on his shoulder.

Qureshi's remark came after it became clear on Tuesday that expected Indo-Pak talks in New York were not going to take place. Qureshi indicated that while Pakistan was ready to meet with the Indians, it was New Delhi that changed its mind.

Krishna and Qureshi were both in New York to attend the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly and a bilateral meeting was widely anticipated.

Krishna, however, invited Qureshi to Commonwealth Games, starting from October 3 in New Delhi.