RAWALPINDI, Jan 3: The prime ministers of Bhutan and Nepal held separate meetings with President Gen Pervez Musharraf here on Saturday , and expressed the hope that the 12th Saarc summit would be a milestone in the history of the regional organization.

The Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lyonpo Jigmi Y. Thinley, and Nepalese Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa affirmed their full support in making the Islamabad summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation a success.

The two leaders expressed their satisfaction at the proceedings and the outcome of Saarc Council of Ministers' meeting, ahead of the summit, beginning on Sunday.

They felicitated the president on his recent peace initiatives vis-a-vis India, and expressed the hope that Pakistan and India would continue to remain engaged in order to improve their bilateral relations, a senior foreign ministry official told APP.

The president assured them of Pakistan's deep commitment to the Saarc principles, and said he was acutely aware that such a large potential in the region lay unrealized because of the problems that were holding the relations between countries.

President Musharraf said there was a need to move forward in a determined manner to enable this region join other fast-growing regions of Asia for rapid progress and prosperity of South Asian people.

The two leaders congratulated the president on securing a vote of confidence in parliament.

They also expressed relief and satisfaction on behalf of the kings of Bhutan and Nepal and their countries that the president remained unharmed in the recent attempts on his life.