NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: India’s prime minister and Pakistan’s president are set to hold their first face-to-face talks since last year’s devastating attacks on Mumbai, officials said yesterday.
An Indian Foreign Ministry official told reporters that Manmohan Singh and Asif Ali Zardari are “likely” to meet tomorrow on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
It would the first time the two leaders have met since last November’s Mumbai attacks, which India blamed on Pakistan-based militants linked to the country’s powerful spy service. “A meeting on the sidelines is likely,” the official said.
Ahead of leaving for Russia yesterday, in a statement, Singh highlighted the importance of the two summits. Singh is attending the two summits at the invitation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The countries — Brazil, Russia, India and China — “together account of 40 percent of the world’s population and 40 percent of global Gross Domestic Product,” Singh pointed out.
Singh would be attending the SCO summit for the first time, as “India has been an observer of the SCO since 2005.” “My decision to attend the summit is a reflection of the high regard we have for Russia’s presidency of the SCO, and our desire to intensify our engagement with countries of our extended neighborhood in Central Asia,” Singh said told reporters.
“There are issues which concern both of us, such as the fight against terrorism and extremism and cooperation in areas of energy security, infrastructure development, agriculture, transportation, science and technology and education,” he stated.
“During my visit, I look forward to meeting and exchanging views with the other world leaders who will be present in Yekaterinburg,” Singh said.
In Islamabad, Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit confirmed a meeting was “planned tentatively” between Zardari and Singh. Asked if Zardari would urge India to restart the frozen peace process, Basit said: “This would be our wish. We do believe that resumption of the composite dialogue is important.”
— With input from agencies
