India's special envoy S K Lamba and Pakistan National Security Advisor Tariq Aziz met in New York as part of their back channel diplomacy to prepare agenda ahead of Wednesday's meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pervez Musharraf.

The two met at a hotel in New York, Pakistani daily Jang reported, quoting officials.

It said that preparing the ground for the Singh-Musharraf meeting and drafting the declaration were the main issues discussed at the meeting.

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The talks between Lamba and Aziz were aimed at creating required atmosphere through the summit-level meeting for the third round of composite dialogue between the two countries, it said but did not mention when the two officials met.

Aziz, a close confidant of Musharraf, has held talks in the past with former National Security Advisor J N Dixit.

After Dixit's death, he has been holding secret talks with Lamba, who has been appointed as a special envoy on Pakistan by the Indian government.