Thimphu, April 29 (Inditop.com) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani began formal talks Thursday afternoon in a bid to explore the possibilities of resuming their long-stalled dialogue and normalisation of ties.

This is the first time the two leaders are meeting since July last year when they met in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm-el-Sheikh.

The two prime ministers are meeting at Bhutan House in the SAARC Village, created especially for the heads of South Asian countries who have gathered here for the 16th SAARC summit.

After shaking hands for a photo op, Gilani and Manmohan Singh went inside for a one-on-one meeting.

This will be followed by separate press briefings by the foreign secretaries of the two countries — India’s Nirupama Rao and Pakistan’s Salman Bashir.