UFA (RUSSIA), July 9:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi exchanged pleasantries with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif here today on the eve of their first meeting in over a year.
The two leaders briefly met each other at a dinner hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, host of the BRICS and SCO Summits.
Modi and Sharif will meet officially here tomorrow morning after more than a year, a period that witnessed ups and downs in Indo-Pak relations over Islamabad’s attitude towards elements instigating terror against India.
During tomorrow’s meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, Modi is expected to voice concerns over cross-border terrorism and discuss the State of bilateral ties and their future direction.
Modi and Sharif met for the first time in New Delhi in May last year when the Pakistani leader came to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Indian Prime Minister.
The two leaders were last together in Kathmandu in November for the SAARC Summit but they did not have a bilateral meeting because of the acrimony between the two countries at that time over Pakistan’s envoy in New Delhi engaging with separatist Hurriyat leaders which led to the cancellation of Foreign Secretary-level talks. (PTI)