Singh, Gilani to meet in Bhutan during SAARC summit?

Washington, Apr.10 (ANI): While diplomatic observers here are hopeful of a brief encounter between Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the upcoming nuclear summit, speculations are also rife that the two leaders may hold a detailed meeting in Bhutan later this month.

Diplomatic observers said that both Singh and Gilani could hold prime minister-level discussions in Thimpu on the sidelines of a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit, which is scheduled to be held on 28-29 April.

If the leaders meet, it would be their first meeting since the dialogue in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt in July last year.

The Indo-Pak composite talks were stalled following the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Even though the foreign secretaries of both the countries met on February 25 in New Delhi, the deliberations failed to yield any substantial result with India pressing hard on its demand for Islamabad to do more against terror networks flourishing on its soil.

While India demanded that Pakistan must show sufficient resolve to come down hard on groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which masterminded the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan, on the other hand, insists that it has been doing all it can do to curb the terror menace. It instead expressed greater concern over the Kashmir and water disputes. (ANI)