Manmohan Singh to hold first meeting with Sharif

Singh had clarified that any progress in bilateral dialogue would depend on action by Pak against terror groups operating from its soil

After receiving US backing on the issue of terrorism emanating from Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet Nawaz Sharif here tomorrow when he is likely to ask him to rein in terror elements operating from their soil and unleashing violence in India.

Expectations from the high-profile meeting, coming against the grim backdrop of terror attacks near Jammu on Thursday, however, will be toned down, as the Prime Minister himself put it in the media briefing after his talks with President Barack Obama, "given the terror arm which is still active in our sub continent".

Prime Minister Singh has made it clear that any progress in the bilateral dialogue will depend on action by Pakistan against terror groups operating from its soil.

Singh, who arrived here last night from Washington to attend the UN General Assembly, will hold his first one-on-one meeting with Sharif since the latter assumed office in June.

The two leaders are expected to discuss bilateral ties and ways to remove difficulties in normalising relations.

Sharif, who is committed to improving bilateral ties with India, yesterday said he was looking forward to the meeting with Singh to make a "new beginning" and to re-engage with India in a "substantive and purposeful dialogue."

The India-Pakistan dialogue process was put on hold after an Indian soldier was beheaded on the Line of Control (LoC) in January. Ties hit a new low when five more soldiers were killed by Pakistani troops along the LoC last month.

The terror attacks near Jammu, which left 10 people dead, mostly security personnel, virtually threatened to derail the New York meeting with main opposition BJP demanding the Prime Minister that his meeting with Sharif be called off.

But Singh decided to go ahead with the meeting, saying such attacks will not succeed in derailing the dialogue process.