PM Modi, Shehbaz Sharif Meeting Unlikely During SCO Summit In Uzbekistan

Highly informed sources in the government told ABP News that there will be no bilateral talks between PM Narendra Modi and Shahbaz Sharif during the SCO summit.

PM Modi (L), Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif (R) [File Photos/Getty]

Amidst all the speculation ahead of the SCO summit, ABP News has learned that bilateral talks between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan are unlikely to take place during the SCO summit to be held in Uzbekistan soon. Highly informed sources in the government told ABP News that there will be no bilateral talks between PM Narendra Modi and Shahbaz Sharif during the SCO summit.

Sources have even claimed that the request from Pakistan in this regard has not even come to India. Although there is a possibility of a courtesy meeting between PM Modi and Sharif, also known as a bridge-aside meet. However, it will depend on the two leaders' own stand and whether all the leaders sit under one roof.

In the past too, PM Modi had an informal bridge-side meeting with former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the SCO summit.

After Shahbaz Sharif became the Prime Minister of Pakistan, PM Modi had congratulated him through a formal letter. However, the Prime Minister in his letter had also demanded action against terrorism to create an atmosphere of dialogue between India and Pakistan.

On the other hand, the Sharif once again chanted the Kashmir melody on the completion of three years of the removal of Article 370 from the Valley.

India-Pakistan relations have been at their lowest since 2019, when the PM Modi-led NDA government at the Centre abolished Article 370 and 35A that changed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

A session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will take place a few days after the SCO Summit. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar will attend the meeting where he will present India's side firmly and it is possible that in such a situation, bilateral talks with Pakistan will not possible during the SCO Summit.

The SCO summit is scheduled to take place in the historic city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan on September 15 and 16 and Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will also attend the meeting.

A meeting between Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping is on the cards during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. According to reports, Sharif may get the opportunity to have a one-on-one meeting with the Chinese President on the sidelines of the upcoming summit.

Diplomatic sources close to news agency IANS have said that Pakistan is also working towards an opportunity for a bilateral meeting between Putin and Sharif.