Talks with Zardari constructive: Indian PM

NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday termed the talks with visiting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on bilateral issues as "constructive and friendly " and said that he has accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan.

"Talks on bilateral issues with President Zardari were constructive and friendly. I am very satisfied with the outcome of talks. The relation between the two countries should become normal. That's our common desire," Singh told the media after a 30-minute meeting with Zardari.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (R) shakes hands with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari during a meeting in New Delhi April 8, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

"We have number of issues and we are willing to find practical, pragmatic solutions to them," he said without specifying which issues they were.

The Indian prime minister also said that he has accepted an invitation to visit Pakistan.

Thanking the Indian prime minister for hosting him though he was on a private visit, Zardari said: "We have had some fruitful bilateral talks. We'd like to have better relations with India. We spoke on all topics that we could possibly discuss. We are hoping to meet on Pakistan soil very soon."

In the first visit by a Pakistani president to India in seven years, President Zardari made a diplomatic stopover in New Delhi enroute to the western state of Rajasthan for a trip to pay obeisance at the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishtia, a Muslim holy shrine in the city of Ajmer.

He is being accompanied by his son Bilawal and Interior Minister Rehman Malik as well as some 50 other members of his team.