ISLAMABAD, Feb 17: A meeting between former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif on the issue of the opposition parties’ conference planned to be held in London is unlikely after the decision of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) to set a deadline of Monday for the People’s Party Parliamentarians to give its final reply about Ms Bhutto’s participation in the event, sources told Dawn on Saturday.

Leaders of both the parties said that no meeting had been scheduled between the PPP chairperson and the PML-N chief for the near future.

A spokesman for the PPP chairperson, Farhatullah Babar, when contacted, said there was no plan of Ms Bhutto visiting London during February.

It was announced by the PML-N after a meeting between Mr Sharif and PPP president Makhdoom Amin Fahim in Dubai on Feb 4 that Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif would meet in London in the third week of the month to sort out the differences between the two parties on the issue of hosting of the conference.

The PML-N has made it clear to the PPP that it would convene the conference in London by March 18 even without the participation of Ms Bhutto as the party could not afford to further delay it.

The ultimatum was given after the fifth round of talks between the leaders of the two parties failed to break the deadlock on Friday.

A source in the PPP said that after receiving the ultimatum, the party had sent Senator Dr Safdar Abbasi and MNA Naheed Khan to Dubai to consult Ms Bhutto on the issue. The duo left for Dubai on Saturday night.

Mr Sharif is willing to hold the conference in London to formulate a joint strategy of all the opposition parties regarding the forthcoming general elections. However, the PPP leaders have expressed displeasure over what they term a unilateral move and called for convening the event from the platform of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy and linked Ms Bhutto’s participation to the acceptance of the suggestion.

PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday said that his party had decided to host the conference after tension developed between the PPP and the Muttahida Majlis-iAmal (MMA) on the Women Protection Bill. He said the idea was to provide a platform on which all parties could sit together.

Mr Iqbal said there was a concern that on changing the host at this stage new reservations might develop among the parties which had confirmed participation, resulting in further delay.