India, Pakistan PMs to meet tomorrow

Colombo, Aug 1 (UNI) Amid growing mistrust over the role of ISI in terrorist activities against India and a spurt in infiltration, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani here tomorrow to put the peace process, which is under ''stress,'' back on track.

The meeting, to be held on the sidelines of the 15th SAARC Summit, assumes significance as it is taking place in the backdrop of serial terrorist bombings in Bangalore and Ahmedabad and attack on the Indian Mission in Kabul.

This will be the first-ever meeting between the two Prime Ministers after a democratically-elected government was installed in Islamabad.

The groundwork for the meeting was prepared by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi who held an hour-long meeting here covering the entire gamut of bilateral relations including the recent violation of ceasefire by Pakistani troops on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

''We have mutually agreed that after the meeting of the Prime Ministers, we will come out with a comprehensive statement on our bilateral engagements,'' Mr Qureshi said adding that Pakistan was always willing to discuss difficult issues with India.

The Pakistan Foreign Minister also said his country has a deep interest in maintaining the ceasefire and if elements tried to disrupt peace on LoC, Pakistan had a solid mechanism to deal with them.

UNI RB/SMA PD VC1908