ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office said on Friday no meeting between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan was planned on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit later this month, despite both leaders attending the gathering in China.
Bilateral relations between Pakistan and India hit a major low earlier this year when both nuclear-armed states engaged in a brief but intense military standoff, deploying fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery before a US-brokered ceasefire ended the four-day conflict on May 10.
Pakistan has since said it is willing to hold a composite dialogue with New Delhi to discuss all outstanding issues, but Indian officials have ruled out the possibility of diplomatic engagement.
China will host the SCO summit in the northern city of Tianjin from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, are due to attend alongside other regional leaders. It will be the fifth time Beijing has hosted the annual conference.
“There is no meeting in the works between the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of India,” foreign office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said, responding to a query on whether China might facilitate talks between the two leaders.
