Gilani, Singh meet briefly at summit

WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had a brief interaction with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh at a reception hosted by Obama.

Gilani walked up to Manmohan Singh and chatted with him for a few minutes. No substantive discussions were held.

Both governments had said they did not expect any meeting between Singh and Gilani on the sidelines of the Washington summit.

Speaking to the US media later in the day Gilani said Pakistan would neither allow extremists to use its soil as a base to attack India nor it would tolerate terrorists from other countries to attack Pakistan.

When asked about Lashkar-e-Taiba's alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks, Gilani noted the case is still pending; adding Pakistan wants more evidence from India against the banned group.

Earlier, Gilani had urged Washington to help ease tensions with India.

Gilani said U.S. President Barack Obama raised Pakistani-India tensions during their White House meeting on Sunday. Obama met separately with India's prime minister on the same day.

"President Obama discussed with me that he really wants ... good relations (between India and Pakistan) and certainly it is in everybody's interests to play a role, whatever they can play, to bring Pakistan and India closer," Gilani said.

Pressed on whether Obama offered specific help on issues such as resolving the dispute over Kashmir, Gilani told reporters this was not discussed.

Indian officials said Singh gave Obama a list of concerns about Pakistan during their Sunday meeting, particularly over the activities of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant group responsible for the Mumbai attacks. New Delhi complains Pakistan has not reined in the group or punished those responsible for the November 2008 attacks on India's financial capital.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said India needed to "look beyond Mumbai."

Asked what role Washington could play in the peace process, he said: "To nudge us together and to facilitate the process."