Terror tops agenda in Manmohan-Obama talks: Report

After the resplendent display of bonhomie and a personal connect, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama Monday held bilateral talks on issues of mutual concern including defence deals and counter terrorism

Both the leaders first held restricted talks at the Hyderabad house, which were followed by delegation-level talks.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao were present with the Prime Minister at the restricted meeting with Obama.

Later, other senior ministers including P Chidambaram, Sharad Pawar, A K Antony and other officials joined the delegation-level talks.

Manmohan Singh and Obama had, yesterday, before the private dinner at 7 Race Course Road, one-on-one talks for close to one hour, far exceeding the scheduled 20 minutes.

The two leaders are expected to issue a joint statement covering a number of issues ranging from security, trade and economy, including cooperation in international fora like G20.

However, as per unconfirmed reports, the joint statement will not be issued immediately as both the sides are said to be working out the fine print – it would be released by 8 pm.