File photo: PM outside Parliament
The Prime Minister is currently meeting senior opposition leaders and sources say he is expected to tell them that he does not plan to cancel talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, despite a deadly attack on Indian soldiers in Kashmir on Tuesday morning, said sources.
"The nation would be outraged if our government wants to continue talks after the killing of five of our soldiers," said BJP leader LK Advani today.
However, Dr Singh is likely to say the meeting will proceed next month in New York when both leaders attend the UN General Assembly session.
That stand will further agitate the opposition, which has accused the government of a weak response to the attack which left five Indian soldiers dead and one seriously injured.
Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid told NDTV: "It's too early to say whether the meeting will happen. A week is a long time in politics, especially international politics."
The tragedy has been over-shadowed by the controversy over the statement made by Defence Minister AK Antony in parliament. He blamed "20 heavily armed terrorists along with persons dressed in Pakistani Army uniforms", while the army had initially accused Pakistani troops of staging the attack.
"Our Defence Minister has given a clean chit to Pakistan," BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said in parliament today. She accused Mr Antony of "letting down the country" and demanded an apology.
Sources say that in defense of his plans, the PM will tell the BJP that when the opposition was in power, it held talks with Pakistan even though there was more violence at and infiltration by Pakistani militants across the Line of Control in Kashmir.
India's new Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said recently that India would be "picking up the threads" of peace talks with the new Pakistani government, while Mr Sharif has also expressed his desire for renewed dialogue.
Bilateral relations were vertiginously placed after an Indian solider was beheaded and another mutilated by Pakistani troops in Indian territory in Kashmir in January.