Paris: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the Paris Climate Summit on Monday, shook hands and spoke to each other. It is the first time the two leaders have met after talks between India and Pakistan broke down a few months ago.
But the exchange of pleasantries does not mean that a structured dialogue will happen between the two sides any time soon. The meeting in Paris lasted for a short period during which the two leaders sat together and spoke to each other for a few minutes.
Sharif had recently said that Pakistan is ready for a dialogue with India without pre-conditions. Stating that Pakistan wants friendly relations with India, Sharif had on Saturday said dialogue without pre-conditions is necessary to sustain peace with India.
Sharif's statement came after Pakistan had cancelled the National Security Advisor-level talks after India clearly said that it would not allow a meeting with Kashmiri separatist leaders and talks will only focus on terrorism.
Pakistan had said the talks cannot be focused only on terror and Kashmir must be on the agenda. Pakistan also said that its NSA Sartaj Aziz cannot come to India if he is not allowed to hold talks with Hurriyat leaders from Kashmir.
The country had also clarified that if and when these talks do happen, then its leadership will definitely consult the Hurriyat. The talks will cover all issues including Kashmir and firing along the border and won't be restricted to terror alone, Pakistan had said.
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