Sunday, April 17 2005 11:47 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today held crucial talks on consolidating the peace process after watching together for sometime the last one -day cricket match between the two countries.

Wearing a grey check suit, Musharraf warmly shook hands with the Prime Minister who was attired in his usual white kurta-pyjama with a blue waistcoat and blue turban before they went for the parleys at the Hyderabad house. They also posed for photographs.

Asked how was the cricket match, Musharraf said "Good, exciting".

The Indian delegation at the meeting included External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukerjee, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, National security advisor M K Narayan, Prime Minister's principal secretary T K A Nair, foreign secretary Shyam Saran and India's High Commissioner to Pakistan Shiv Shankar Menon.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri was among the Pakistani delegates at the talks.

Setting the tone for the parleys, Musharraf at a banquet hosted in his honour by the Prime Minister yesterday (Apr 16, 2005) night had asserted that issues should not be "swept under the carpet" while Singh said to carry forward the peace process both the countries must jointly fight terrorism in the region.

Musharraf said that India and Pakistan should seize the "unique opportunity" to resolve Kashmir and all other outstanding issues. "Failure is no more an option," he said.

The Prime Minister said time has come to find an enduring solution to all problems between the two countries.

"The peace process and the composite dialouge need to be carried forward with even greater determination. However, in order to take forward and sustain the dialogue process, acts of terrorism must be prevented and we must together fight the scourge of terrorism in our region," he said in his banquet speech.