Agency
New Delhi: After Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif put the ‘ball in India’s court,’ the Ministry of External Affairs, according to news reports, has said that there was no meeting with Nawaz Sharif on Modi’s formal agenda at the SAARC summit on Wednesday.
However, Syed Akbaruddin told a news agency, “India ready for meaningful dialogue on sidelines of SAARC Summit which involves specifics.” On Sushma Swaraj and Sartaj Aziz’s exchange, Akbaruddin said, “Exchange of courtesies should not be taken as meetings.
Meanwhile, Pakistan is ready to hold talks but it is up to India to re-start the negotiations which were called off by it “unilaterally”, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said amid speculation of a meeting between him and Narendra Modi.
“Cancellation of talks was New Delhi’s unilateral decision,” he said on arrival here to attend the SAARC Summit.
“The ball is now in India’s court for talks between both the countries,” Sharif said.
When asked about the possibility of talks between the two countries, Sharif said the question should be put to his Indian counterpart. India had cancelled Foreign Secretary-level talks, he said.
India and Pakistan have been involved in a war of words after New Delhi cancelled a Foreign Secretary-level meeting in August after Pakistan’s envoy in India met Kashmiri separatists ahead of the talks.
Sharif said the SAARC had not made significant progress even after 30 years of its formation while European Union and other regional organisations have come a long way. (PTI)