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NEW DELHI,Friday (AFP) A South Asian trade fair opening in Nepal Friday will be used by India to help determine whether Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will attend a January regional summit in Pakistan, government sources said.

Trade officials from the seven South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries will be holding meetings on the sidelines of the fair in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, while the SAARC economic committee is also due to meet.

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan are key members of SAARC, and their ongoing dispute over Kashmir tends to dominate conferences.

Several of Vajpayee's ministers have said the prime minister has agreed in principle to attend the group's 12th summit, due to be held in January in Pakistan.

Officials of the Indian foreign ministry, however, have said that Vajpayee's attendance is dependent on progress being made on the SAARC economic front, particularly relating to decisions taken at the 11th summit at Kathmandu last January.

"There has to be something concrete to show as far as progress on SAPTA and SAFTA are concerned," an Indian foreign office source was quoted Thursday by The Hindu newspaper as saying.

SAPTA is the SAARC Preferential Trade Agreement and SAFTA the SAARC Free Trade Agreement.

New Delhi claims progress on the two key accords has been stalled due to Pakistan's insistence that SAARC first discuss political issues, such as Kashmir, before any economic deals can be struck.

India insists the SAARC charter does not allow discussion of any bilateral and political issues and hence Kashmir cannot be debated at this forum.

Adding to uncertainty over next year's Pakistan summit is a developing row over the dates of the meeting.

In now-familiar posturing over dates of summits, India says the timing of the Pakistan summit has yet to be set.

"We have already given to you our position on the matter. What I am trying to clarify is that yes, I believe there has been a proposal but the dates for the SAARC summit have not been finalised," the spokesman said Wednesday.

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