New Delhi, Feb 15 (IANS) US Senator John Kerry, on a short visit to Delhi, met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday afternoon.

Kerry, chairman of the US senate foreign relations committee, had a 20-minute meeting with Manmohan Singh at 1.45 p.m. They discussed bilateral relations as well as the wider theatre of South Asia, especially the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Kerry arrived in Delhi Sunday and will leave later Monday for Islamabad.

His visit has significance as it comes before India and Pakistan are to have their first significant official-level contact after the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan are scheduled to meet Feb 25 in Delhi. The Indian government indicated that the talks are going ahead despite the bomb blast in Pune Feb 13 that killed nine people, including two foreigners.