Shehbaz, Modi to meet China’s president on Aug 31

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi will have separate meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in northern China’s historic city Tianjin on August 31 on the brinks of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.

However, a meeting between Pakistan and India’s leaders has been ruled out. Highly placed diplomatic sources told The News here Wednesday evening that Chinese President could play a role in reconciliation between its two neighbours.

“Pakistan hasn’t desired a meeting of its prime minister with his Indian counterpart, but if such a request is made by New Delhi, Pakistan could consider its possibility since it believes resolution of disputes through dialogue. Any role of third country would be welcomed in this regard,” well-placed sources confided with this scribe. Pakistan is willing to discuss Kashmir, water and other bilateral issues with India on any forum. The Chinese leader has been impressing upon Pakistan and India to settle their disputes in the light of “SCO spirit” in their own and regional stability’s interest.

In a major development, the holding of QUAD summit where US President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Modi had to meet in New Delhi towards the end of this year, has become uncertain. Indian diplomats have said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting Indian capital during the same period. Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Shankar is also visiting Moscow later this month where he is scheduled to have extensive discussions on the regional developments with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.