New Delhi, Ticking off Pakistan's Foreign Minister S M Qureshi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tonight said agreements had been reached on a number of issues at the recent Indo-Pak talks but the way he handled the press conference later "could have been avoided".
Singh hoped that Qureshi will accept the invitation extended to him to visit India and two countries would be able to "restore" the dialogue process "sooner or later" and give it a "proper sense of purpose".
In his first reaction after the July 5 foreign ministerial talks which ended in sharp differences, Singh said "I believe there was agreement on large number of issues having bearing on our relations. But the way the press conference was headed at the end of the visit by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan could, I think, have been avoided."
It detracted the "large elements of agreement" reached between the Foreign Ministers, he said in reply to a question at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Singh, who was asked whether he was disappointed with the failure of the talks between the two Foreign Ministers, said "I think, we are too close to events to pass a firm judgement on the outcome." PTI
