Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not invited Pakistan’s premier Imran Khan for his swearing-in ceremony for second term on May 30. But he will meet Imran Khan in Bishkek on sidelines of SCO summit. Both leaders will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Kyrgyztan’s capital Bishkek mid-June. However, there is no official word from either side.
According to confident sources, officials of India and Pakistan are engaged in fixing the agenda of their meeting. There are possibilities of the meeting between premiers of both neighbouring countries. Talks of a meeting come after Imran Khan called PM Modi on last Sunday to congratulate him on his landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections. The foreign ministry said that PM Modi thanked Imran Khan for his telephone call and greetings. Pakistan has also downplayed India’s decision not to invite Khan for his swearing-in ceremony.
It is notable that PM Narendra Modi will have bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bishkek on June 13-14. It will be PM Modi’s first major international engagement after his re-election in the Lok Sabha polls.
Relations with Pakistan became very tense after a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist killed over 40 CRPF soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama on February 14. After this, India conducted air-strikes on a Jaish camp in Pakistan’s Balakot on February 26. The Pakistan Air Force also struck back and captured Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman.
