Musharraf, PM hold talks on consolidating peace

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday held talks on consolidating the peace process after watching together for sometime the last one day cricket match between the two countries.

Wearing a grey suit, Musharraf warmly shook hands with the prime minister, who was attired in his usual white kurta-pyjama with a blue waistcoat and trademark blue turban.

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The two left the Firozeshah Kotla cricket ground after watching the start of the game and met at the Hyderabad House.

Asked how the cricket match was, Musharraf said: "Good, exciting."

The Indian delegation at the meeting comprised External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, Prime Minister's Principal Secretary T K A Nair, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and India's High Commissioner to Pakistan Shiv Shankar Menon.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri was among the

Pakistani delegates at the talks.

Setting the tone for the parleys, Musharraf at a banquet hosted in his honour by the prime minister on Friday night
had asserted that bilateral issues should not be "swept under the carpet", while Singh said to carry forward the peace process both countries must jointly fight terrorism in the region.

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Musharraf said India and Pakistan should seize the "unique opportunity" to resolve Kashmir and all other outstanding issues. "Failure is no more an option," he said.

"The peace process and the composite dialogue need to be carried forward with even greater determination. However, in order to take forward and sustain the dialogue process, acts of terrorism must be prevented and we must together fight the scourge of terrorism in our region," Dr Singh said in his banquet speech.

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