Nepalese FM trying to arrange Nawaz-Modi meeting

ISLAMABAD: Even though Nepal’s Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey is trying hard to arrange a bilateral meeting between prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Saarc Summit in Kathmandu, Pakistan has made its position very clear about any future dialogue with India.

In a television interview in Katmandu, Pandey was quoted as saying; “We are trying to organise bilateral talks between India and Pakistan during the summit so that it can set an example.”

Pakistan has never ruled out a meeting with Modi but has laid out conditions. The Foreign Office says that since it was India that had abruptly cut off the dialogue with Pakistan, it was now up to New Delhi to resume this dialogue. It has never been adverse to dialogue and in fact only last week Sharif called for a return to the negotiating table.

Earlier, New Delhi had said that they would not rule out the likelihood of such a meeting between the two neighbours whose bilateral ties are at an all-time low, saying it wanted “cooperative and peaceful ties” with Pakistan. The spokesman at South Block, Syed Akbaruddin, told the media that India does not rule out a meeting between prime ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the Saarc Summit, saying Modi was keen to have talks with as many South Asian leaders as possible.

The Nepalese foreign minister termed his exercise to bring Sharif and Modi on talking terms akin to cracking a nut. “Saarc has one very unique practice since its inception. The retreat among the heads of the state and government during the summit provides a platform to hold multilateral and bilateral talks. The talks are going to be held in a very free and frank manner to end mutual suspicion,” Pandey said.