NEW DELHI - INDIA'S prime minister and Pakistan's president are 'likely' to hold face-to-face talks on Tuesday on the sidelines of a regional summit in Russia, an Indian foreign ministry official told AFP.

It would the first time the two leaders have met since last November's Mumbai attacks, which India has blamed on Pakistan-based militants linked to the country's powerful spy service.

Indian premier Manmohan Singh and Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari will both be in Yekaterinburg for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting.

'A meeting on the sidelines is likely,' the Indian foreign ministry official told AFP.

India and Pakistan have observer status at the SCO, which groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The Mumbai attacks, which left 166 dead, prompted India to freeze a peace process with its nuclear-armed neighbour and arch-rival.

The suggestion of a meeting comes after Singh told parliament last week India would meet Pakistan 'more than halfway' if it cracked down on Islamic militants operating against India.

New Delhi blames a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), for planning and launching the November assaults in which 10 gunmen targeted multiple locations in Mumbai during a three-day killing spree.

Indian prosecutors say they have evidence that 'undoubtedly and conclusively' links the Mumbai attacks to Pakistan.

The last high level India-Pakistan meeting took place in September when Singh met Zardari on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. -- AFP