PM Modi, Imran Khan exchange pleasantries in Bishkek

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan exchanged pleasantries on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Bishkek on Friday.

From left, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Chinas President Xi Jinping, Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, Russias President Vladimir Putin, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev pose for a photo before a session at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. PTI Photo

BISHKEK: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan exchanged pleasantries on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit here on Friday, according to sources. The pleasantries were "usual" in nature and were exchanged when the two were in the Leaders' Lounge, the sources said. This is the first such interaction between the two Prime Ministers amidst the chill in the bilateral relations, triggered by the terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in February. India in the past has blamed Pakistan for carrying out terrorist attacks in the country and asked it to stop supporting terror outfits operating from its soil. India has not been engaging with Pakistan since an attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016 by a Pakistan-based terror group, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together. Early this year, tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district. Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot in Pakistan on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured an IAF pilot, who was later handed over to India. China played a role in easing tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.