No Modi-Khan meet planned at SCO meet in Bishkek: MEA

India has not been engaging with Pakistan following the attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together.

New Delhi: Prime Minster Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan are not likely to interact on the sidelines of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek next week. "To the best of my knowledge, no meeting has been planned between PM Modi and Pakistan PM Imran Khan at the SCO Summit in Bishkek," Raveesh Kumar, MEA spokesman told reporters this afternoon. Both Modi and Khan are scheduled to attend the annual SCO summit on June 13-14. India has not been engaging with Pakistan following the attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together. Tensions between the two countries worsened after the Pulwama terror attack and both the countries were almost on the brink of a war after India's military planes struck a terrorist training camp in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26 and Pakistan carried out a counter-offensive the next day. Breaking the ice in bilateral ties, Khan on May 26 spoke to Modi on phone and expressed his desire to work together for peace and prosperity in the region. Pakistan Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood who was on a three-day private visit to India said Islamabad was hoping for "re-engagement" with New Delhi after the Lok Sabha polls. (With additional information from PTI)