Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh met his Pakistan counterpart, Nawaz Sharief in New York today for a little over an hour. During the meeting both sides reviewed state of relationship and discussed the steps need to be taken to improve the ties between them. Briefing the media, after the meeting, National Security Advisor, Mr. Shiv Shanker Menon informed that though both sides wished to see better Indo-Pak relationship, it was made absolutely clear to Pakistan that pre-condition for any further movement in relationship is improvement of situation at the Line of Control and bringing the perpetrators of Mumbai blast to book.

Talking about the measures which need to be taken in this regard, DGMOs of both the countries have been asked to meet and find a solution as early as possible, informed Mr. Menon.

Mr. Menon also informed that long pending issues of Siachen and Sir Creek also surfaced in the meeting. Both sides also discussed the need to see that there is an understanding on improving mutual trade and commerce at the earliest. There were also deliberations on the issues of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India and liberalized Visa mechanism from Indian side. Indian Government informed that Visa regime has already been liberalized in last six months.

On being asked as to how this meeting was different from other earlier meetings, Mr. Menon said that each meeting is important in the sense that it provides an opportunity to create a common understanding to address specific issues in order to make further progress in relations between two countries.

AIR Correspondent reports that it is evident from this meeting that there was a desire on both the sides to have better relationship and this meeting itself was a new stage in improving understanding between two neighbours. Though both the Prime Ministers extended invitations to each other to visit their respective countries , there was no decision regarding the next high-level meeting.

The meeting held in the backdrop of recent incidents of frequent ceasefire violations, killing of several Army personnel and Samba incident, was nevertheless a step forward in improving relationship between the two nations. However, the onus is now on Pakistan Government to take immediate measures to check border violations and terrorist activities on Indian soil to work for improved peace and tranquility in South Asian Region.