Manmohan Singh to leave for BRIC, SCO summits tomorrow

New Delhi, June 14 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, will travel to Yekatarinberg, Russia, on Monday for a three-day visit during which he will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and Brazil-Russia-India-China (BRIC) summits.

He is also expected to meet Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, marking the first top-level contact between India and Pakistan since the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai last year.

The main agenda of the two multilateral summits is expected to include the global financial crisis, terrorism and food security.

The Singh-Zardari meeting could lead to resumption of the suspended composite dialogue if both agree to it.

On Friday, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon clearly stated that New Delhi wants a conducive atmosphere for the talks to restart. This includes Islamabad taking steps against terrorism emanating from its soil, he added. (ANI)