Saturday, July 15 2006 12:28 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Top Congress leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, tonight held detailed deliberations on the overall situation in the country in the backdrop of serial blasts in Mumbai in which India suspects Pakistani involvement.

The meeting of the Congress Core Group was held soon after the Prime Minister's return from Mumbai where he said it would be extremely difficult to go ahead with the peace process with Pakistan.

The two-hour-meeting was also significant as it came ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to Russia next week to attend the G-8 meeting.

"Gandhi and other party leaders also utilised the opportunity to take stock of the situation in the wake of the halt to the process of disinvestment by the government following the row of over offloading of equity in Neyvelli divestment issue," sources said.