India, Pakistan PMs hold talks before South Asian summit

The prime ministers of India and Pakistan met here Thursday ahead of the opening of the 17th summit of South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani shook hands in front of the media before their talks. The warming ties between India and Pakistan is set to become the focus of the two-day SAARC summit, which kicks off Thursday afternoon, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said Wednesday. Khar told media on the sidelines of the preliminary meeting of SAARC foreign ministers that she hoped renewed interest in reconciliation between the two nuclear-armed rivals will translate to tangible results in the two days ahead. "Of course with over five decades of issues it is not possible to depart from them overnight but we are keen to build a better relationship so that at some point in the future we can put our contentious past behind us. We have seen that it is possible in other parts of the world," she said.