PM, Russian prez hold bilateral talks next to bar

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev were forced to meet at an unusual venue for bilateral talks in Brasilia on Friday -- at a room nearby a bar in Hotel Tulip, where the heads of nations are staying.

Revellers at a bar in Hotel Tulip had to halt music for some time to enable hold their bilateral meeting at a room nearby.

It was not the venue where they were originally slated to meet, but they had to hold their talks in a room close to the Royal Bar, thanks to rescheduling of their programme.

Singh and Medvedev, who are staying at Tulip Hotel to attend the Brazil-Russia-India-China Summit, were originally scheduled to meet on Friday morning.

However, the meeting was rescheduled to 11 pm (local time) on Thursday night.

When the meeting at the new venue was about to begin, authorities realised that there was a party going on in the bar and the meeting could not take place in such an ambiance. They then requested the revellers to halt music for sometime so that Singh and Medvedev could discuss bilateral issues.

The revellers heeded to the request and did not play music for some time.

The 45-minute meeting had to be held at a room near the bar after Chinese President Hu Jintao cut short his visit due to earthquake in China, prompting rescheduling of the BRIC summit from Friday to last evening.

During the meeting, Dr Singh and Medvedev discussed bilateral issues and ways to push these further.