Manmohan, Gilani hold talks

Addu (Maldives), November 10, 2011 (Tehelkanews)

Giving a push for normalisation of Indo-Pak ties, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday wanted the liberalised visa regime being negotiated to be put in place at the earliest.



During the one-on-one meeting which lasted for about an hour on the sidelines of the SAARC summit, Dr. Singh also told Mr. Gilani that it is imperative to bring to justice perpetrators of the November 2008 terror attack on Mumbai.



Dr. Singh said the two sides were happy with the progress made so far in bilateral relations and noted that the era of accusation and counter accusation should be left behind.



"We are happy with the progress made so far," Dr. Singh told reporters in a brief interaction.



Sharing the Indian Prime Minister's sentiments, Mr. Gilani said, "We had very good meeting. We are moving in a positive direction ahead."



After the Singh-Gilani parleys, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters that the two Prime Ministers were of the view that the liberalised visa regime which is being negotiated by the two neighbouring countries should be put in place at the earliest.



The two Prime Ministers met in a beach cottage at Shangrilla resort on the fringes of Indian Ocean and discussed a whole range of issues, including the need for Islamabad to take action against the 26/11 perpetrators and build on the recent Pakistani decision to grant the MFN status to India.



They are meeting for the second time this year after their discussions on the margins of the Indo—Pak encounter in the Cricket World Cup match in Mohali and third time in 18 months after their talks on the sidelines of the previous SAARC summit in Bhutan last year.



Dr. Singh said the next round of talks should be "far more productive and bring the two countries closer to each other than ever before."


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