ASEM meet: Manmohan meets Angela Merkel

Beijing, Oct 25: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Saturday, Oct 25 called on German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the seventh two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Beijing.

Diplomats say that the two exchanged views on issues ranging from bilateral ties to global financial turmoil. Dr Singh is also scheduled to call on Chinese President Hu Jintao. The Prime Minister also had separate meeting with the leaders from across Europe and Asia who have descended on Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Friday for the ASEM.

The discussions during the two days, which involve 27 European Union member states and 16 Asian countries, are set to be a regimented march through an agenda covering economic cooperation, climate change and development.

The purpose of the biennial Asia-Europe meeting, launched 12 years ago, is to narrow the diplomatic distance between two continents accounting for 60 per cent of global output and two-thirds of world trade. By Naveen Kapoor

ANI