The mood was sombre and nostalgic as the Gandhi and Bhutto families came face to face for the first time on Friday after the terrible symmetry of tragedies in their history.
    
Pakistan's ruling Pakitan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, accompanied by his sisters Bakhtawar and Asifa, met United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi [Images] and her children Rahul and Priyanka at the Marriott Hotel in Beijing [Images].

Benazir Bhutto [Images] and Rajiv Gandh--former prime ministers of Pakistan and India--had met violent ends.
    
The scions of the dominant political families from India and Pakistan are in the Chinese capital to witness the opening ceremony of the Olympics [Images] at the invitation of the ruling Communist Party of China. They spoke of the need for better understanding between India and Pakistan.
    
During the 30-minute interaction, the Congress president conveyed her condolences to 19-year-old Bilawal and his sisters over the assassination of their mother.
    
The two families reminisced the tragedies suffered by them due to political violence, sources said. "Both sides also called for better understanding between the two countries," they said.

Sonia Gandhi with Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari during a meeting in Beijing on Friday

Photograph: PTI Photo