Shahbaz-Modi meeting likely during SCO summit

ISLAMABAD: The prime ministers of Pakistan and India are likely to have a meeting during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, diplomatic sources told Daily Jang.

The SCO summit is scheduled for September 15-16 where leaders of the organisation will sit together to discuss regional challenges.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif will attend the conference during which he is likely to meet the presidents of China, Russia, Iran and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

The sources confirmed that in its July 28 meeting, the SCO foreign ministers reiterated that the heads of SCO states will attend the summit.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, who had attended the meeting in Tashkent, said that a bilateral meeting between the Pakistani and Indian leaders is not scheduled.

“There are no plans of any meetings between Indian and Pakistani prime ministers in September,” Bilawal had told WION News, adding that both India and Pakistan are part of the SCO and the two countries are only engaged in the context of the broad-based activities of the organisation.

The foreign minister had said: “India is our neighbouring country. While one can decide on a lot of things, one cannot choose its neighbours, therefore, we should get used to living with them.”

Bilawal recalled that after 2019, constructive dialogue with India became difficult, while statements based on Islamophobia by Indian officials are further creating hurdles in dialogue.