PM Shahbaz likely to meet Indian PM Modi during SCO summit
Prime minister Shahbaz Sharif likely to meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, diplomatic sources stated.
The SCO summit is planned for September 15-16, where the leaders of the organisation will sit down together to discuss regional challenges.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif will take part in the conference at which he is expected to meet with the presidents of China, Russia, Iran and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
Sources confirmed that at their meeting on 28 July, SCO foreign ministers said that SCO heads of State will attend the summit.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto said that a bilateral meeting between the Pakistani and Indian leaders is not planned.
”No meeting between the Indian and Pakistani prime ministers is planned in September,” Bilawal told WION News,adding that both India and Pakistan are part of the SCO and that both countries are engaged only in the context of the organisation’s large-scale activities.
The minister of foreign affairs declared, India is our neighbour. Although you can decide a lot of things, you can’t pick your neighbors, so we should get used to living with them.”
Bilawal highlighted that after 2019, constructive dialogue with India has become challenging, while statements based on Islamophobia by Indian authorities create even more barriers to dialogue.