New Delhi, June 13: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has on Thursday embarked on an official two-day visit to Bishkek to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
According to ANI news reports, on the sidelines of the SCO summit, India is slated to bilateral meetings with China and Russia at Bishkek.
The bilateral dialogues will take place as scheduled from June 13 to 14 when Modi will visit Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, to address a conference of Council of Heads of State (CHS). Modi is also scheduled on June 14 to hold a meeting with host Kyrgystan.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan will also mark Islamabad’s attendance in the Bishkek summit. This will be the very first time when Modi and Khan will come face-to-face after months of frictions between two neighbour nations following Pulwama terror attack on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir over Indian paramilitary convoy which claimed the lives of 44 CRPF personnel.
Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar claimed the responsibility of the attack in Pulwama.
On February 26, the Indian Air Force (IAF) launched air strikes on JeM terror camps situated in Balakot, in response to the deadliest attack. The very next day, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched attack targeting Indian military installations. Pakistan downed MiG21 with wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman.
However, no talks are scheduled between Khan and Modi. This comes at the time when Pakistan PM wrote a letter to Modi seeking dialogues with New Delhi in order to resolve the standoffs between the two nations.
Moreover, India has recently announced the prime minister’s flight to Bishkek for the SCO summit would not cross through Pakistani airspace, instead would fly through a circuitous route through Iran and Oman.