New Delhi, Nov. 13 -- The government on Friday struck a cautious note on an invitation to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann for the International Punjabi Conference in Pakistan, with the external affairs ministry pointing to the severing of all contacts with the neighbouring country after the Pahalgam terror attack.

Mann has been invited by Punjabi Parchar, one of the organisers of the event to be held in Lahore from November 27 to 29, as the chief guest for the opening ceremony. The conference is aimed at celebrating the Punjabi language, arts, culture, history and cross-border literary and cultural reconciliation.

"When it comes to relations with foreign countries, we have a national policy and expect everybody to abide by it,...