India may send a high-level representative to Pakistan in the next few days to convey condolences to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's bereaved family after External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee could not travel there on Friday for her funeral because of security reasons cited by Islamabad.
Mukherjee was to represent India at Bhutto's burial at her ancestral village Garhi Khuda Baksh in Larkana near Karachi but the Pakistan government advised that there were security concerns besides logistical issues.
Seeming to understand the Pakistani position, sources in New Delhi said that the government there had even advised former prime minister Nawaz Sharif against traveling to Sindh in view of security concerns.
Besides, the funeral was treated as a private affair and no delegation of any country participated in it.
The government here is now exploring the possibility of sending a high-level representative to meet Bhutto's family members to convey condolences in the next few days.
Mukherjee is likely to be the representative.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today sent a condolence message to Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari, with whom the Indian establishment has been in touch off and on.
Security at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad has also been strengthened after Bhutto's assassination in Rawalpindi last evening, the sources said.
India also temporarily suspended the train and bus services to Pakistan in view of the security scenario there.
