PM Modi, Imran Khan to come face-to-face at dinner hosted by Kyrgyz Prez during SCO summit

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan, will come face-to-face at the 19th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), for the first time amid frosty relations between the two neighboring countries. The 19th summit of the SCO will be held in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek on June 13-14, where, Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping , Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Russian  President Vladimir Putin will also be present. Ministry of External Affairs has ruled out possibility of any bilateral meeting or formal talks between PM Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Khan, on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. However, the two leaders are likely to be present at the dinner hosted by the Kyrgyz President on June 13. Possible exchange of greetings or informal talks between the two leaders cannot be ruled out in such scenario, sources said. PM Modi will leave for Bishkek on June 13 in the morning. As per sources, PM’s flight will have to cross through Pakistani airspace, for which permission will be sought from Pakistan. Sources also said so far any formal step has not been taken for seeking airspace permit from Pakistan, though it is most likely that the country will grant the permission. Last month, Pakistan had given permission for passage of former Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s flight, when she was going to attend SCO foreign ministers’ meet. Pakistan had closed its airspace for India, in response to India’s counter terror operation in Balakot. Tensions between India and Pakistan worsened after the Pulwama terror attack and both the countries were almost on the brink of a war after India's military planes struck a terrorist training camp in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26 and Pakistan carried out a counter-offensive the next day. India has not been engaging with Pakistan following the attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together. The SCO is a China-led eight-member economic and security bloc. Its founding members include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan were admitted to the Beijing-based regional security grouping in 2017. This week's SCO summit will be the first major international event being attended by Modi after his re-election. He would meet President Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit. Since the admission of India and Pakistan into the SCO, Chinese officials have been expressing hope that both the countries would make use of the organisation to improve relations and not to make it a platform to highlight their differences. Briefing journalists, on the SCO summit, Chinese vice Foreign Minister Zhang Hanhui said that this year’s summit could also discuss issues like multilateralism and protectionism in the context of US trade tensions China besides several other countries including India. Zhang also said Xi would also meet Pakistan Prime Minister Khan where the two leaders would focus their talks on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and counter terrorism related issues. "Our bilateral relations are growing very well. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework (in which the CPEC is a part) and in terms of counter terrorism framework we have carried out cooperation with very fruitful outcomes," Zhang said. "Such outcomes are good for two economies and have played positive role in promoting our respective security and regional stability. I am sure meeting between the two leaders will focus on the pressing issues in bilateral relations, regional and international issues," he said. In recent years the SCO has made counter terrorism cooperation one of its main focus areas. The organisation in recent years built up Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) which focusses on periodic counter terrorism exercises involving the member countries. (Additional inputs from PTI)