Not even a pull aside, the message Modi conveyed to Imran Khan

Bishkek, June 15: There have been several reports of the pleasantries exchanged by the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan during the SCO summit at Bishkek.

The pleasantries between Narendra Modi and Imran Khan were exchanged at the Leaders' Lounge at the venue of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

Official sources tell OneIndia that there was however no meeting between Modi and Khan. Not even a pull aside, just pleasantries the source informed.

The source further added that India is firm that it will not talk unless and until Pakistan takes concrete action against the terrorists and terror factories. This has been our consistent stand and will it would remain that way, the official also added.

It is also learnt that Khan congratulated Modi on his election victory during their first face-to-face interaction.

Both Modi and Khan were here to attend the annual summit of the SCO.

The exchange of pleasantries came over two weeks after Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi wrote separate letters to their Indian counterparts, pushing for restarting the bilateral talks.

India has not been engaging with Pakistan since an attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016 by a Pakistan-based terror group, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together. Khan had also made a telephone call to Modi on May 26 and expressed his desire to work together for the betterment of people of the two countries.

On his part, Modi said creating trust and an environment free of violence and terrorism was essential for fostering peace and prosperity in the region.

Following the phone call and letter by Khan to Prime Minister Modi after his re-election for a second term, there were speculation that both may have a meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit here.

Modi arrived here in the Kyrgyz capital on Thursday on a two-day visit to attend the annual summit of the SCO. He held bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

He also held talks with Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov on Friday during a bilateral visit during which the two countries upgraded their relations to strategic partnership level.