If PM Modi, Imran Khan meet, India will convey the same red lines of terror to Pakistan: Sources
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan's Imran Khan will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Kyrgyztan's capital Bishkek mid-June, but no decision has been taken by India on any meeting between the two leaders, sources said today.
If the two prime ministers do meet, however, India will convey the same red lines of terror to Pakistan, sources said, adding, India's red lines on talks and terror have not changed.
Over the last few years, India has refused any initiative for talks, contending that cross-border terror has to stop before talks can begin.
Talks of a meeting comes two days after Imran Khan called PM Modi on Sunday to congratulate him on his landslide victory in the Lok Sabha elections. The foreign ministry said PM Modi thanked Imran Khan for his telephone call and greetings.
On May 23, the day of election results, Imran Khan had tweeted to PM Modi on his thumping win.
"I congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia," he tweeted.
PM Modi had responded to the tweet: "Thank you PM @ImranKhanPTI. I warmly express my gratitude for your good wishes. I have always given primacy to peace and development in our region."
Relations with Pakistan - tottering since the terror strike at Uri in 2016 - took a nosedive after a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist killed 40 CRPF soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama on February 14. Days later, India conducted air-strikes on a Jaish camp in Pakistan's Balakot on February 26. The Pakistan Air Force struck back, targeting civilian and military installations in India and captured Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman.
In April, Imran Khan was quoted as saying that he saw a better chance of peace talks with India if PM Modi's BJP won the elections. The cricketer-turned-politician had said if the next government in India were led by the Congress party, it might be "too scared" to seek a settlement with Pakistan over Kashmir, fearing a backlash.
The BJP swept the crucial national elections and decimated the Congress by winning 303 seats alone, surpassing its massive 282 seat win of 2014. The party along with its coalition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a whopping 352 seats in the general elections paving way for Narendra Modi's second term as Prime Minister.