The Prime Ministers are meeting on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit; this will be their first meeting since Sharm-al-Sheikh in Egypt. (Read: What is the Sharm-al-Sheikh pact?).
But the big question as they sit down for talks once again is: Will there be a real thaw in Indo-Pak ties?
External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said that there was no fixed agenda for talks. (Watch: No fixed agenda for talks: Krishna)
But the divergence in their approach to today's talks is clear. While Pakistan is insisting that the Sharm-al-Sheikh document, which delinks terrorism from composite dialogue, should be the basis for talks, India is sticking to its position that there can be no composite dialogue but only a channel of communication open till Pakistan takes credible action against the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.
"Dialogue is the only way forward. And secondly the peace process should not be overshadowed by issues of terrorism," said Abdul Basit, Spokesperson, Foreign Office, Pakistan.
India is hoping to get some commitment from Pakistan to punish them.
India is keeping its expectations from this meeting low as it has a limited political mandate, especially after the Sharm-al-Sheikh disaster. The joint statement issued after those talks in Egypt had led to a major political confrontation back home, with the Opposition accusing the government of selling out to Pakistan.
There were rumblings even within the Congress. The drafting of the statement became a major controversy, as it seemed to indicate that India had agreed to delink the peace process from terrorism and accepted that it had a role in Balochistan.
The PM had to clarify personally in Parliament that India had only agreed to keep a channel of communication open and not delink the composite dialogue from terrorism.
Also read: Singh, Gilani meeting is good for region: US
Read: Are India, Pak to blame for failure of SAARC?
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