Manmohan, Gilani fix up meeting without a date

PRIME CONCERNS: The logistics of the meeting between 2 PMs next week are being worked out.

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New Delhi: The logistics of the meeting next week between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm-el-Sheikh are being worked out, a Ministry of External Affairs official said Thursday.

Though no dates have been fixed, the two leaders will hold talks after their foreign secretaries meet in Sharm-el-Sheikh, where leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) will gather for their 15th summit.

Manmohan Singh had said last month that he would wait for the outcome of the talks between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan before taking a decision on resuming the bilateral composite dialogue mid-July.

"The purpose of this meeting (between foreign secretaries) is to find what Pakistan has done and what it plans to do on terrorist activities against India," Manmohan Singh had told reporters while returning home from the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.

The much discussed meeting of the foreign secretaries may take place July 14, when Manmohan Singh and his delegation, which include External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan, arrive in the Egyptian coastal town for the two-day summit on July 15-16.

NAM foreign ministers will meet before that on July 13-14.

The prime minister, who will land in Egypt after being the guest of honour at the French National Day in Paris July 14, will meet several leaders for bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit, Vivek Katju, special secretary, political and international organisations, told journalists.

However, he gave no details, saying only that they were still being worked out.

The prime minister will address the summit -- whose theme is International Solidarity for Peace and Development -- during the general debate.

Parallel to the summit will be the NAM First Ladies Summit, which will discuss the Role of Women in Crisis Management.

Stating that India's commitment to NAM was "firm and abiding", the official said: "NAM has continuing relevance. It is now 48 years old." He added that NAM seeks to apply the same principles to the challenges the world faces today.

India was one of the founding members of the movement, which held its first summit in Belgrade in 1961.

India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru laid out the five principles that are the cornerstone of the movement -- respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in domestic affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.