The Indian government was meeting its coalition allies and opposition leaders on Friday ahead of eagerly awaited talks with Pakistan, officials said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held a breakfast meeting with his predecessor, Atal Behari Vajpayee, who launched the peace process by extending a "hand of friendship" to Pakistan in April last year, the Press Trust of India reported. Singh was also due to attend a meeting of his coalition partners later in the day. Foreign Minister Natwar Singh, who will lead the Indian delegation in talks with his Pakistan counterpart Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, also met opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani on Thursday. "This is a delicate and difficult process," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said on Thursday. "We will be there with an open mind."
