Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Holds Talks With Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Tuesday May 27,2014

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday May 27,2014 held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

Narendra Modi was accompanied by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh among others during the talks with Nawaz Sharif

The two leaders had a firm handshake and posed for photographers before heading towards the meeting room for talks at the ceremonial Hyderabad House

 The 45-minute meeting at Hyderabad House focussed on key issues like terrorism and ways to take forward the bilateral dialogue that has been stalled since January 2013

PM Narendra Modi with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh (centre) at Hyderabad House in Delhi

Ahead of his meeting,Nawaz Sharif had on Monday May 26,2014 said he was carrying a message of peace and intends to pick up the threads with India’s new leader Narendra Modi from where he and then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee left off in 1999.

A major section of Pakistan's foreign policy and political experts welcomed Sharif's decision to attend the oath-taking ceremony. 

Pakistan's former Ambassador to Afghanistan and chief secretary of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Rustam Shah Mohmand believes Sharif's visit may open a new chapter of cordial relationship between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. 

Pakistani news channels, including Geo TV, Express News, ARY News, Samma TV and Dunya TV, ran special transmission on Tuesday as Sharif and Modi held a 45-meeting at the Hyderabad House. 

In Pakistan, the PML-N welcomed the meeting between Modi and Sharif, which came over 15 years after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Lahore for talks with Sharif.

PML-N spokesman Tariq Azeem told "It was a positive meeting by all accounts. The very fact that Modi saab has accepted the invitation to visit Pakistan as and when convenient, and it has been agreed that the Foreign Secretaries will meet-these are positive moves.

"The way the whole visit went was optimistic and we hope both countries can build on it. It was never meant to be a visit for negotiations as it was a ceremonial occasion. It was a short meeting and we don't expect serious issues to be discussed and sorted out.

"The very fact that they both agreed that the meeting happened in a cordial atmosphere augurs well for the future,"