The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari for a speedy conclusion of the Mumbai terror attack trial in that country, which will be a major confidence building measure in bilateral relations. The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said this when he met Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on the sidelines of the NAM summit in Tehran yesterday. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said that Dr Singh told the Pakistan President that peaceful relations with Pakistan should move forward in a step by step manner.

Mr. Mathai also said that Pakistan President, Mr Zardari assured that his government is committed to bring the 26/11 accused to justice.

Both the leaders said that the scheduled meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries after a week will prepare a roadmap for the future.

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said Mr Zardari invited Dr Singh to visit Pakistan and the Prime minister will visit the country at a suitable time. The meeting lasted for over half an hour. Mr Mathai said it was decided that commerce secretaries of both the countries will meet to sort out the issue of customs cooperation issue.

The Prime Minister also had bilateral meetings with the Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and the Prime minister of Syria Wael Al Haleqi.

Earlier, addressing the NAM Summit last evening, the Prime Minister strongly pitched for global action against international terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Dr. Singh asked the Non-Aligned Movement to take a lead in this direction.

The Prime Minister is returning back to India today after his four day visit to Iran. Our correspondent covering the visit reports, Dr Singh outlined the relevance of the Non-Alignment Movement in today’s emerging geopolitics.