No plans for Indo-Pak bilateral talks with Imran, Modi to meet Xi at SCO summit

There was speculation about possibility of a meeting between Modi and Khan in the wake of a private visit here by Pakistan Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood days after telephonic conversation between the prime ministers.

"To best of my knowledge, there is no bilateral meeting being planned between the prime minister and PM of Pakistan on the sidelines of the SCO summit," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson said during a media briefing.

Asked specifically whether he was completely ruling out any possibility of Modi-Khan meeting in Bishkek, Kumar only said he was not aware of any bilateral meeting being organised between the two leaders.

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.

Modi on his part called for creating trust and an environment free of violence and terrorism for fostering peace and prosperity in the region.

Both Modi and Khan are scheduled to attend the annual SCO summit on June 13-14.

Indian envoy Vikram Misri announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit at Bishkek, the first meeting between the two leaders after the formation of the new government "In recent years, India and China have been able to build a very mature and stable relationship. The informal summit between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi in Wuhan last year was a milestone and has been instrumental in taking our relations to a new height," Misri said.

The Indian ambassador was speaking after inaugurating India's Synthite Industries' 3rd manufacturing facility at Wucheng county in Dezhou in China's Shandong province

“It is worth mentioning that last year, our leaders met four times on the sidelines of different multi-lateral meetings. Next week, they are again meeting in Bishkek on the sidelines of the SCO Summit," he said.

The SCO is a China-led 8-member security bloc with India and Pakistan being admitted to the grouping in 2017.

This will be their first meeting after Modi's re-election following the stunning victory of the BJP in the general elections.

Xi extended his "heartfelt congratulations" to Prime Minister Modi for winning the general elections, in a rare gesture of greeting a foreign leader well before the official announcement of the results.

Misri said the economic and commercial engagement between India and China constitutes a major component of the bilateral relations with bilateral trade which crossed USD 95 billion last year and is set to cross USD 100 billion this year.

In December last year, Prime Minister Modi met President Xi on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina and discussed joint efforts to further enhance mutual trust and friendship between the two giant neighbours.

The April 27-28 Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi was largely credited to have turned around the bilateral relations soured by the 73-day Doklam standoff, triggered by Chinese troops attempts to build a road close to Indian border in an area also claimed by Bhutan in 2017.

After the Wuhan summit, both the countries stepped up efforts to improve relations on different spheres including the military-to-military ties.