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

They decided to task the DGMOs to suggest effective means to restore the ceasefire and the way forward to ensure that that remains in force and in place. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh mentioned terrorism and the need for effective action on bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to book. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that that was indeed Pakistan's intention and there would be further progress on that.
Mr. Menon also said that long pending issues of Siachen and Sir Creek also surfaced at 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 the Most Favoured Nation status to India and a liberalized Visa mechanism from the Indian side. The Indian government informed that the Visa regime had already been liberalized in the last six months.