Islamabad: In a significant development, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Pakistani counterpart Zafarullah Khan Jamali today (Jan 4, 2004) held bilateral talks for the first time since the two countries came on the brink of war two years ago and agreed to maintain the momentum in the bilateral ties.

The two sides "agreed that momentum created in bilateral relations should be maintained", External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha told reporters after the meeting at Jinnah Convention Centre, the venue for the 12th SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation) Summit.

He said the two leaders held one-on-one meeting for 15 minutes after holding talks for 15 minutes in the presence of their Foreign Ministers and other officials.

Sinha said the Indian side has sought an appointment for Vajpayee to pay a courtesy call on President Pervez Musharraf tomorrow.

He said after the meeting between the two Prime Ministers he called on his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri.

"Both of us expressed satisfaction at the progress in our bilateral relations. We discussed various ways of maintaining the momentum and agreed on the need to do so."

Sinha said during his meeting with Kasuri, "I complimented him on the way he conducted the SAARC Ministerial Conference successfully."