St Petersburg, May 31: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee tonight shared the table with US President George W Bush at a dinner hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin for the heads of states and government he is hosting at the tercentanary celebration from this ancient city. Seated right of Bush, Vajpayee was seen engaged in an animated conversation with him, most likely about the Indo-Pak relations and its latest peace initiatives with Pakistan.
Vajpayee has no scheduled meeting with Bush either here or in Evian in France tomorrow where both leaders will participate in an informal dialogue ahead of the G-8 summit beginning Monday.
Other in the table include the incumbent EU chairman, the Greek President Costas Simitis and the incoming chairman the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Before the dinner, Vajpayee met British Prime Minister Tony Blair for the second time today.
Bureau Report