South Asia summit salvaged after handshake by leaders of India, Pakistan

Bhutan's Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay (L), India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C), Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (C, standing) and Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala attend the opening session of 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Kathmandu November 26, 2014. REUTERS/Narendra Shrestha/Pool

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A brief meeting between India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart appears to have salvaged a summit of South Asian leaders, with all eight countries clinching a last-minute deal to create a regional electricity grid.

Thursday's pact, to be signed at the summit's closing ceremony, will buttress Modi's ambition for South Asia to become a viable economic counterweight to China, which has made sweeping inroads in the region.