India-Pakistan: Ice-breaker talk expected to take place in Russia

An ice-breaker talk is expected to take place between two south Asian neighbours India and Pakistan in Russia this week. According to sources, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet hi Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of a summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Russian city of Ufa this week.
The meeting is set to take place on July 10.

If sources are believed, some interaction between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif is expected to take place between them.

The move has come after PM Narendra Modi congratulated Nawaz Sharif at the start of the holy month of Ramazan. The call was made after a war of words over Myanmar operations.

In an unprecedented move, Narendra Modi invited SAARC leaders including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his swearing in ceremony on May 26, 2014. The invitation to PM Sharif brought optimism in both the nations.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sent a white sari for the mother of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. PM Modi had gifted a shawl to the PM Sharif's mother, when the Pakistani leader visited India when he visited country for the swearing in ceremony of Narendra Modi.

The visit raised hopes of progress in the six-decade-old dispute, which has resulted in one of the world's most heavily militarized borders.

A word of war was also escalated between India and Pakistan after June 9 when a contingent of the Indian Army's Special Forces crossed into Myanmar and killed several militants in an operation lasting over 14 hours. The Myanmar operation caused tension between India and Pakistan when Indian leaders warned that it could happen in Pakistan as well. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Defence Minister Khwaja Asif responded with strong words. Asif warned India that Pakistan was a nuclear state and the country does not maintain a nuclear bomb just to use it as a firecracker.

Bilateral dialogue process between India and Pakistan was suspended in August, 2014 after Pakistan envoy Abdul Basit held discussion with Kashmiri separatist leaders ahead of secretary level talk between India and Pakistan. India had requested him not to host the meeting ahead of the visit of the foreign secretary to Islamabad.

If happens, the meeting between Indian and Pakistan will be the second after they met on the sidelines of SAAARC summit in Kathmandu held in November 2014.

However, no official announcement has been made about meeting between PM Modi and PM Sharif in Russian city of Ufa. Accoridng to sources, M Modi is expected to raise India's concerns on terrorism, including the release of Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, the 26/11 mastermind who has walked free earlier this year.

If it materialises, this meeting between prime ministers of two south Asian nations could be the much needed ice-breaker.