JOIN USPrime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart M Nawaz Sharif reportedly explored the possibility of resuming dialogue on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change summit (COP-21) in Paris on Monday, over four months after they had a formal meeting in Russia.
The prime ministers of the two neighbouring nations shook hands when they met in the lounge, where the world leaders attending the COP-21 were waiting just before the commencement of the conclave. They sat on a sofa a bit away from others and engaged in a discussion.
A video footage of the brief meeting showed Modi putting forward his views to Sharif on certain issues.
The Pakistani prime minister, who was mostly seen listening, interrupted his counterpart only once to tell him something.
Sharif later told Indian and Pakistani journalists in Paris that he had a good conversation with Modi. He said his counterpart shared his keenness to end the current impasse in India-Pakistan bilateral engagement and to move towards resolving the outstanding issues between the two neighbours. He, however, did not reveal the details of the discussion with his counterpart.
“PM @narendramodi meets PM Nawaz Sharif at COP-21 in Paris,” official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Vikas Swarup, posted on Twitter. He also posted a picture of the two leaders shaking hands.
“This was a brief exchange of courtesies in the Leaders Lounge. PM meets many Heads of State/Govt,” added Swarup, who also posted pictures of Modi meeting and greeting several of his counterparts from around the world.
The “Dawn” newspaper of Pakistan quoted a statement from Sharif’s office to report that Modi had approached his counterpart from the neighbouring country when the leaders were waiting in the lounge.
“Both appeared in a friendly mood and the Indian PM left the meeting with a warm handshake with the Pakistani PM,” Dawn reported, quoting the statement.
This is the first time Modi and Sharif were seen talking to each other after their last formal bilateral meeting at Ufa in Russia on July 10. Sharif on Saturday told British Prime Minister David Cameron in Malta that Pakistan was ready to restart talks with India, if no precondition was attached.
Though the two prime ministers had agreed in Ufa that their National Security Advisors would meet in New Delhi to discuss all issues connected to terrorism, the meeting was called off after India asked Pakistan to drop its insistence on discussing Kashmir and holding consultations with the separatists.