Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif had held an hour-long "secret" meeting on the sidelines of the SAARC summit in Nepal's capital Kathmandu, a media report said here.

According to Hindustan Times the revelations are being made in debut book–This Unquiet Land — Stories from India’s Fault Lines–of a TV journalist Barkha Dutt.

"Unknown to the media and certainly the public, both Modi and Sharif had found someone to keep them connected even when things got difficult”, Dutt writes, describing Sajjan Jindal as an informal messenger serving as a “covert bridge” between the two leaders. 

Jinal is the brother of former Congress MP Naveen Jindal.

The book, which is published by Aleph Books Company and will hit the stores on Wednesday.

Despite repeated attempts, Jindal did not return HT’s calls or messages. Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup, too, did not comment, the HT reported. 

During their first meeting when Sharif came to Delhi for Modi’s swearing-in — the two PMs decided to keep the reins of the relationship in their hands.

“However, they agreed that it could be useful to talk informally through a mutual acquaintance they both felt comfortable with.”

The acquaintance was Jindal, who hosted a tea party for Sharif after his meeting with Modi in Delhi. When Dutt went to meet the Pakistani leader at the Capital’s Taj Mansingh hotel, she saw Jindal escort Sharif’s son Hussain for lunch.

“It was no secret that Indian steelmakers, both state and private players, were looking to foster friendly relations with Pakistan; they needed this to happen so they could ferry iron ore from Afghanistan by road across Pakistan from where it could be shipped to ports in western and southern India,” Dutt writes. But, Jindal’s ties with Sharif, she says, appeared to have gone beyond that of a businessman with the head of a government – and the two had become “confidantes”.(Agencies)