PM meets German Chancellor Merkel

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Beijing and exchanged views on bilateral ties as well as the raging global financial turmoil.

Dr Singh, who is in Beijing for the seventh Asia-Europe Meeting Summit, had a very good meeting with the German chancellor, sources said.

The two leaders discussed the fast-growing bilateral ties and the international financial crisis, they said.

Continuing his confabulations with the world leaders on the margins of the ASEM summit, Dr Singh also met Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov. Details of the meeting were not immediately available.

The prime minister is also scheduled to call on Chinese President Hu Jintao before returning home on Saturday evening.

Dr Singh on Friday met his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the ASEM Summit.

After the meeting, Dr Singh had said Gilani assured him that Islamabad was "seriously committed" to "control" terrorism and ensure success of the joint anti-terror mechanism.

"Terror is the common enemy of both India and Pakistan," Dr Singh had said.

The prime minister also had separate meetings with the President of Mongolia,Nambaryn Enkhbayar; Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi; and Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Tan Dung on Friday, during which he mainly discussed ways to further enhance India's relations with the three nations.