March 02 , 2016
News
Nawaz, Modi likely to shake hands in US
Sartaj hints at Pakistan, India foreign secretaries talks
WASHINGTON – Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif may meet India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington later this month on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit, Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz was quoted as saying.“There are chances of meeting between the two prime ministers,” the Press Trust of India news service quoted him as saying. “There are possibilities, when they are here in Washington DC. They would interact with each other. Whether there would be a structured meeting I do not know. Depends on...Chances are there for a meeting,” he said.
Sartaj is in Washington to attend the sixth US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue which he co-chaired with US Secretary of State John Kerry. Prime Minister Nawaz would be travelling to Washington to attend the Nuclear Security Summit at the invitation of US President Barack Obama, the adviser said.
The Indian prime minister too has been invited to the summit on March 31 and April 1. No official announcement has been made yet. On the status of Pakistan-India relationship after Prime Minister Modi came to power in May 2014, Sartaj said that the situation was not good in the first year.
"But the last two months are better," he said. Ahead of Nawaz-Modi meeting, he said that there was likelihood of a meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries. He also said that the timing of which has not been decided yet.
"We do not know (when foreign secretaries would meet). Indian foreign secretary has to come to Islamabad first. We are hoping that now,” he said after the breakfast meeting with Defence Writers Group.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk