In the first political contact between India and Pakistan after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's April peace initiative, the prime minister shook hands with Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid on Tuesday.

Indo-Pak peace initiative: The complete coverage
 
Rashid later told reporters that he delivered a 'short, sweet and smart message' from the Pakistani leadership to Vajpayee.

Rashid walked up to Vajpayee to greet him as information ministers from SAARC countries lined up for a group photograph soon after the SAARC Information Ministers Conference was inaugurated by the prime minister.

The Pakistani minister, who stood next to Vajpayee and exchanged pleasantries with him, said he "conveyed to Prime Minister Vajpayee the good wishes of President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Jamali."

"We are waiting for his [Vajpayee's] tour to the SAARC Summit" in Islamabad in January, he said.

"That is the message I gave him," Rashid said, adding the prime minister responded by saying, 'milenge'."

Before leaving for Moscow, Vajpayee told reporters at the airport: "I just shook hands [with the Pakistani
minister]. There was no conversation today."