The meeting began at the New York Palace Hotel, where Singh is staying, at about 8:15 pm. Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and National Security Council (NSC) Secretary Tariq Aziz from the Pakistani side, while Foreign Minister Natwar Singh and National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan from the Indian side were also present during the meeting.
The discussion, held at the working dinner, lasted for three-and-a-half hours. Later, both the leaders met one-on-one for half an hour.
During the talks President Musharraf invited Manmohan Singh to visit Pakistan, which the latter accepted. No date for the visit was announced.
Both the leaders expressed their commitment to ensure a peaceful settlement of all pending issues, including Kashmir to the satisfaction of both the sides.
Obviously, India is not yet ready to include satisfaction of the Kashmiri people in any possible solution of the issue. The fact that, after over four hours of deliberations, there is nothing in the joint statement, other than a reiteration of previous decisions and a reference to the release of prisoners since the last time that the two leaders met, lends credence to perceptions that differences between the two sides could not be bridged.
Following is the text of the joint statement that was read out by President Musharraf to the waiting reporters: "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President General Pervez Musharraf met today reiterated their relations, since they last met in New Delhi on April 18, 2005.
"The two leaders referred to the earlier statements of January 6, 2004 and April 18, 2005, and reiterated their pledge that they will not allow terrorism to impede the peace process.
"They reaffirmed their commitment to the decisions taken at their meeting in New Delhi and agreed to expedite their implementation.
"They also welcomed the progress made within the framework of the composite dialogue, including promotion of trade and economic relations, people-to-people contacts and confidence-building measures.
"They also welcomed recent release of prisoners on both sides and agreed to continue the process on a humanitarian basis.
"They expressed their commitment to ensure a peaceful settlement of all pending issues, including Jammu and Kashmir to the satisfaction of both sides. They agreed on possible options for a peaceful negotiated settlement of issues. In this regard, they should continue to be pursued in a sincere spirit and purposeful manner."
In his brief remarks, Manmohan Singh said: "We have covered substantially all aspects of our relationship and this joint statement brings out the outcome of the meeting. And I am satisfied with the outcome of the meeting."
AFP ADDS: Later, in a speech at the UN Summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India would never compromise with cross-border terrorism in occupied Kashmir.
Manmohan said India had faced incursions by militants in the occupied Kashmir region for years.
"We shall never succumb to or compromise with terror, in [occupied] Kashmir or elsewhere," he said.