Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed on Sunday that he would have a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Ufa, Russia, where both leaders are scheduled to attend the BRICS summit of emerging economies and the regional Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet from July 8 to 10.
In Facebook posts on the eve of his departure on an eight-day tour of six countries, Mr. Modi said he would “meet the leaders individually and will be a part of the various interactions of BRICS leaders with captains of industry and leaders of other invited states.” The Prime Minister said the BRICS forum had a “crucial role” in furthering “world peace”.
However, he made no comment about the possibility of meeting leaders at the SCO summit, where Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will participate along with him as observers.
Sources in Delhi and Islamabad told The Hindu a “pull-aside” meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Ufa between Mr. Modi and Mr. Sharif was a “work in progress”, but not finalised yet.
“A normal feature” On Thursday, the Pakistan Foreign Office had said neither side had contacted the other, but meetings between leaders at multilateral summits were a “normal feature.” The comment was followed by the External Affairs Ministry’s briefing where the spokesperson said the schedule of bilateral meetings was “yet to be finalised”.
Significantly, neither side ruled out a meeting between Mr. Sharif and Mr. Modi. Sources said any meeting would be the outcome of a “political decision”, as senior diplomats in charge of the relationship and the Indian and Pakistani high commissioners were not expected to travel to Ufa.
Sources said the pressure for a meeting was coming from the hosts, given Russia’s new defence links with Pakistan, while the U.S. had shown concern consistently about the lack of any high-level contact between both sides.
Last week, the U.S. State Department said a “reduction [in tension between India and Pakistan] is what we’re all after and suits all parties.”
Since Mr. Sharif travelled to Delhi last May, the two Prime Ministers have been in New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September 2014 and Kathmandu for the SAARC summit in November 2014, but failed to meet.
Next chance The next chance for both leaders to meet in a similar setting will come in September, as the two leaders are expected to attend the 70th year celebrations of the United Nations.
Mr. Modi begins his visit from Uzbekistan on Monday, where he said he will sign several agreements after talks with President Islam Karimov aimed at “expanding economic ties and enhancing trade and economic linkages”. He will then go to Kazakhstan before reaching Ufa on Tuesday, and will continue his Central Asian sojourn on Saturday after the BRICS and SCO summits. This will be the first such visit to all the Central Asian republics by an Indian Prime Minister since former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit in 1955.
