NEW DELHI – India responds over media reports of PM Khan and PM Modimeeting.
No decision has been taken on a possible meeting between Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan next month on thesidelines of a summit in Bishkek, official sources said on Tuesday.
Modi is attending the annual summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) in the Kyrgyz capital on June 13-14 where Khan is also expected to bepresent.
“A decision on the issue will be taken by the new government,” said agovernment source, without completely ruling out the possibility of ameeting between Modi and Khan.
There has not been any meeting between the two leaders since Khan took overas prime minister of Pakistan in August last year.
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Another source termed as “entirely speculative” reports in some section ofthe media that the two prime ministers are meeting in Bishkek.
India has not been engaging with Pakistan following the attack on the AirForce base at Pathankot in January of 2016, maintaining that talks andterror cannot go together.
The government’s decision to invite leaders of the BIMSTEC countries forthe swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as prime minister for a secondterm on May 30 also reflected India’s reluctance to engage with Pakistaneven as the external affairs ministry said the invitations were “in linewith government’s focus on its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.”
