Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pak counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani are expected to register “incremental” progress in bilateral engagement when they hold talks tomorrow, hoping to put the terror-battered relationship back on track as Islamabad indicated that it’s considering “other action” against Lashkar founder Hafiz Saeed.

Signals from both countries on the sidelines of the NAM summit here was one of cautious optimism.

Gilani told the summit there was forward movement between the two countries.

He mentioned the Kashmir dispute among issues that needed to be addressed, but India sought to play it down. Foreign Secretary S S Menon said India’s position on Kashmir was well-known, but the context in which Gilani raised it also needed to be considered.

Separately, Singh, in his speech, referred to terrorism but without naming Pakistan or the Mumbai attack. “In recent years, terrorist groups have become more sophisticated, more organized and more daring. Terrorists and those who aid and abet them must be brought to justice,” he said.

Indian sources said Singh and Gilani could jointly address the media after their meeting, or at least issue a statement signaling progress.

Menon, who met his Pak counterpart Salman Bashir for 90 minutes last night and described the meeting as “good and detailed”, said he and Bashir met two or three times today. There was also a brief meeting between Menon and Gilani “in the corridors”.

New Delhi would be happy if Islamabad took the same kind of action against anti-India terrorist groups in Pakistan as it’s taking against those on its western frontier, Menon said.

... contd.