In the first-ever meeting between them, Prime Minister Mammohan Singh will hold talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on September 24 in New York, which would be a 'further step' in the ongoing composite dialogue process.

"A meeting with President Musharraf of Pakistan is envisaged. This will be a further step in the ongoing dialogue process with Pakistan," Singh said in a statement before embarking on a nine-day trip to Britain and the United States.

A PMO spokesman said the Singh-Musharraf meeting, which was earlier planned for September 22, will now be held on Friday, September 24, at 9 am New York time on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

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While Musharraf will address the world body on September 22, Singh, who will also meet US President George W Bush on September 21, will do so a day later.

The first bilateral meeting between Singh and Musharraf will give them an opportunity to get to know each
other better.

There will be a broad review of progress on eight subjects of the Composite Dialogue process and there could be decisions on enhancing people-to-people contacts, humanitarian issues and in other areas, official sources said.

The Singh-Musharraf parleys will take place within 20 days of the meeting of their Foreign Ministers K Natwar Singh and Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri here during which the two sides agreed on 13 proposals relating to confidence building, promotion of friendly exchanges and enhancing of bilateral trade and economic cooperation.