Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Pakistan's president that terror attacks must not be launched from Pakistani soil, Russian news agencies reported
The leaders of India and Pakistan met today in Russia, their first interaction since the terrorist attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai last November, Russian officials said.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Pakistan's president that terror attacks must not be launched from Pakistani soil, Russian news agencies reported.
“My mandate is to declare that Pakistan's territory must not be used for terrorism,” state-run RIA-Novosti and ITAR-Tass quoted Mr. Singh as saying after shaking hands with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
The two met on the sidelines of summits in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, according to Russian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to announce the information on the record.
India accuses a Pakistan-based militant group of sending the teams of gunmen that rampaged through Mumbai in a three-day siege that left 166 people dead. Pakistani officials have acknowledged the November attacks were partly plotted on their soil.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi played down Mr. Singh's reported remark and said the meeting itself was a positive development, the reports said. “I think the very fact that the two leaders are meeting at this summit for the first time since the tragic incident in Mumbai is positive,” RIA-Novosti and ITAR-Tass quoted Mr. Qureshi as saying in Yekaterinburg.
India and Pakistan have observer status in the six-nation Shanghai Co-operation Organization, which wrapped up a two-day summit today. Mr. Singh was also taking part in a summit of the BRIC group linking Brazil, Russia, India and China.
In a speech to India's parliament last week, Mr. Singh said “it is in our vital interest therefore to try again to make peace with Pakistan” and urged Pakistan to take “strong, effective and sustained action” to prevent the use of its territory for terror.
“If the leaders of Pakistan have the courage, the determination and the statesmanship to take this road to peace, I wish to assure them that we will meet them more than half way,” Mr. Singh said at the time.
Top foreign ministry officials from the two countries will meet again soon and their political leaders will follow that up with a round of talks, Mr. Qureshi said. “The two sides agreed that our foreign secretaries will meet soon and they will update each other and exchange views on the issue of terrorism,” Mr. Qureshi told Reuters by telephone from Russia.
“In view of these talks, the political leadership will meet in Sharm El Sheikh,” he said referring to a Non-Aligned Movement meeting in the Egyptian resort in mid-July.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Pakistan's president that terror attacks must not be launched from Pakistani soil, Russian news agencies reported.
“My mandate is to declare that Pakistan's territory must not be used for terrorism,” state-run RIA-Novosti and ITAR-Tass quoted Mr. Singh as saying after shaking hands with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
The two met on the sidelines of summits in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, according to Russian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to announce the information on the record.
India accuses a Pakistan-based militant group of sending the teams of gunmen that rampaged through Mumbai in a three-day siege that left 166 people dead. Pakistani officials have acknowledged the November attacks were partly plotted on their soil.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi played down Mr. Singh's reported remark and said the meeting itself was a positive development, the reports said. “I think the very fact that the two leaders are meeting at this summit for the first time since the tragic incident in Mumbai is positive,” RIA-Novosti and ITAR-Tass quoted Mr. Qureshi as saying in Yekaterinburg.
India and Pakistan have observer status in the six-nation Shanghai Co-operation Organization, which wrapped up a two-day summit today. Mr. Singh was also taking part in a summit of the BRIC group linking Brazil, Russia, India and China.
In a speech to India's parliament last week, Mr. Singh said “it is in our vital interest therefore to try again to make peace with Pakistan” and urged Pakistan to take “strong, effective and sustained action” to prevent the use of its territory for terror.
“If the leaders of Pakistan have the courage, the determination and the statesmanship to take this road to peace, I wish to assure them that we will meet them more than half way,” Mr. Singh said at the time.
Top foreign ministry officials from the two countries will meet again soon and their political leaders will follow that up with a round of talks, Mr. Qureshi said. “The two sides agreed that our foreign secretaries will meet soon and they will update each other and exchange views on the issue of terrorism,” Mr. Qureshi told Reuters by telephone from Russia.
“In view of these talks, the political leadership will meet in Sharm El Sheikh,” he said referring to a Non-Aligned Movement meeting in the Egyptian resort in mid-July.
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