Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Sunday held talks with Sri Lankan President Maithiripala Sirisena on the sidelines of the Brics-Bimstec Outreach Summit in Goa, India.

During the meeting, the two leaders discussed matters including operating direct flights between the two countries and hosting the stalled 19th Saarc Summit, the PM’s Secretariat said in a statement on Sunday.

Emphasising on the need to hold the regional summit soon, he said the member countries should have common views in this regard. The 19th Saarc Summit, scheduled to take place from November 9-10 in Pakistan, was cancelled on September 20 following a terrorist attack terrorist attack on Uri town of Jammu and Kashmir. He also requested President Sirisena for clemency to a Nepali citizen who is on death row in Sri Lanka. Chet Bahadur Thapa of Lalitpur was arrested for smuggling drugs into the island nation and subsequently convicted on the charge. Dahal also sought help from the Sri Lankan government to check on trafficking of Nepali women to the Gulf countries via Sri Lanka.

On the occasion, the Sri Lankan President underscored the need of making collective efforts to organise the Saarc Summit. He said Sri Lanka was positive towards the concerns put forth by Nepal.