ADDU, Maldives (Agencies) - Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said she hopes to discuss with her Indian counterpart ways of closing a trust deficit between the two countries and combating regional terrorism. Khar and Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna participated Wednesday in a foreign ministers meeting before an eight-nation South Asian summit in Maldives. Khar told reporters that Pakistan would like for the trust deficit that (has existed) between the two countries for many years to be reduced. We have many, many long miles to move ahead still, and we hope that this co-operation, with mutual trust more than anything else, ... we will be able to move on. South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or Saarc will have its 17th meeting on Addu atoll in this Indian Ocean archipelago starting Thursday (today). Khan and Krishna will have bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit. Khar said that the discussions are expected to focus on regional terrorism. Nobody can deny the fact that this is a major challenge the region faces. Pakistan is a country that has suffered in the hands of terror more than any other country may (have) in the region or in the world, Khar said. Any issue that is a challenge to the region or to the two countries could be discussed, she said. According to a report, Khar assured that Pakistan will not backtrack on its decision to grant the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India. Let me categorically say that I dont see a lot of room for confusion, the Press Trust of India quoted Khar as saying, rejecting speculation on the November 2 decision to grant MFN status to India. We will not backtrack on a cabinet decision, she told the news agency ahead of Saarc summit. Khar said the special designation was also part of efforts to normalise ties between the two nuclear-armed rivals. I can tell you categorically that the cabinet gave its approval for normalisation of trade ties with India, she added. Earlier, on board his flight to the Saarc summit in Maldives, Indias foreign minister said that trust in Pakistan was improving in a clear sign of warming relations between the two neighbours as he arrived for a regional summit. The trust deficit with Pakistan is shrinking, Krishna said, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Referring to a very positive atmosphere between the countries, he also suggested it was necessary for Pakistan to work out a joint strategy with India in order to fight terror. The last meeting in July between Krishna and Khar ended with talk of a new era of cooperation. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh are expected to meet on Thursday (today) at the Saarc summit in Addu. The two prime ministers last met in March when Gilani accepted Singhs invitation to watch the India-Pakistan cricket World Cup semi-final. They last held formal talks at the 2010 Saarc summit in Bhutan. On Tuesday, senior officials from Pakistan and India also met in Maldives, an official said. Maldivian Foreign Secretary Ahmed Naseer said Indias foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai and his Pakistan counterpart Salman Bashir met during the meeting of senior officials, but declined to give details. They met, but I cannot comment on their bilateral matters and what they discussed, Naseer told reporters after officials met to hammer out a declaration to be approved by their foreign ministers and at the summit. Naseer said foreign secretaries also discussed greater trade cooperation among members of the Saarc and said Pakistans decision announced last week to grant the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India had also figured in their talks. However, Naseer said they had also decided that any trade concessions agreed within the regional grouping should be better than the existing bilateral trade arrangements. However, he declined comment on Pakistans MFN offer to India, the biggest member of the grouping which accounts for a fifth of humanity in one of the poorest regions in the world. Many smaller members of Saarc, which groups Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, have expressed concern that Indo-Pakistan tensions were hampering regional trade.