Kathmandu, They shared the dais but leave alone a handshake, there was no exchange of courtesies between Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan during the nearly three-hour (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) SAARC Summit here today.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, who were
sitting two seats away from each other, did not look at each other even when
Sharif crossed before and after delivering his speech at the 18th meeting of
the eight-member regional bloc.
Leaders
of Maldives and Nepal were seated between Modi and Sharif. Though
there is no “structured” meeting scheduled between the two leaders, a brief
exchange of pleasantries was expected given that they would be attending the
same conference and the retreat tomorrow.
While
yesterday Sharif had sought to put the ball in India’s court for an initiative
for talks, saying “cancellation of talks was New Delhi’s unilateral decision,”
and “ball is now India’s court for talks between both the countries”. India
maintained that it was for “meaningful dialogue” which involves specifics.
“We
have been shouting from the top of the roof that we are ready for meaningful
dialogue. The emphasis was on meaningful. The meaningful dialogue has a meaning
in diplomacy. In Pakistan, they know it very clearly what we mean by meaningful
dialogue as they know us and understand us. They know everything,” External
Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said when asked about Sharif’s
remarks.
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