THIMPHU - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani met on Thursday afternoon on sidelines of 16th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). However, no concrete agenda has been announced by either side though the hope of this sideline talk is to discuss a wide range of issues to break the ice between two countries since "Mumbai terror attack". Addressing a press conference here, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Quereshi said that the meeting held in Bhutan House was comprehensive, cordial and friendly. According to him, the meeting last for one and half hours. "After the brief meeting with Pakistani and Indian delegation, Singh and Gilani had one-on-one meeting," he said. "All issues that has been thrown into the press was discussed during the meeting," said Quereshi. The two leaders agreed that dialogue is the only way forward and they agreed to resume the dialogue process that was left untouched since the Sharm el-Sheikh in July 2009. According to Quereshi, foreign ministers and foreign secretaries of the two countries have been instructed to work out engagements that can begin as soon as possible and as frequently as possible. Peace talks between India and Pakistan were stalled after the "Mumbai terror attack" in 2008 that left 166 people dead. This is the first meeting between the two leaders after their talks at Sharm el-Sheikh of Egypt in July, 2009. During the Sharm el-Sheikh talks, two countries reached agreement that "action on terror should not be linked to the composite dialogue process and these should not be bracketed" and that "terrorism is the main threat to both countries". Quereshi also said that both prime ministers agreed that their soil will not be used against each other, adding that the Pakistani prime minister agreed that those responsible for the " Mumbai Tragic" will be brought to justice. "There was acknowledgement about deficit in both sides. Two prime ministers have to bridge that divergence and built confidence," said Quereshi. SAARC home ministers' meeting will be held in Islamabad on July 26 of this year, Quereshi said. "We welcome Indian home minister to take part in that meeting," the minister added.
