'PM Modi to meet Pak PM in Russia'

A meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif is on cards in Russia where the two leaders will be attending the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Ufa on July 9-10. Modi is on a six-nation visit from Monday. He will be in Russia to attend SCO and BRICS Summit.  

Details of the meeting in Russia were not specified by either Ministry of External Affairs or the Foreign Office of Pakistan. But sources in Pakistani Government confirmed that the Sharif-Modi meeting was being worked out on the sidelines of SCO. The Pakistan Foreign office in a statement on Monday said Sharif would hold `important bilateral’ meetings on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Russia this week without specifying an interaction with Modi.

Modi and Sharif had last met in Kathmandu in November at the SAARC Summit but did not have any bilateral meeting. However, the two leaders have remained in touch through telephone. 

They last connected when Modi called up Sharif to wish him at the beginning of the holy month of Ramzan. Modi, while extending best wishes, had stressed on the need for having peaceful and bilateral ties. During the telephonic conversation, Modi had also conveyed about India’s decision to release detained Pakistani fishermen so that they can be home for Eid.