ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office said on Friday no meeting between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan was planned on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit later this month, despite both leaders attending the gathering in China.
Bilateral relations between Pakistan and India hit a major low earlier this year when both nuclear-armed states engaged in a brief but intense military standoff, deploying fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery before a US-brokered ceasefire ended the four-day conflict on May 10.
Pakistan has since said it is willing to hold a composite dialogue with New Delhi to discuss all outstanding issues, but Indian officials have ruled out the possibility of diplomatic engagement.
China will host the SCO summit in the northern city of Tianjin from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, are due to attend alongside other regional leaders. It will be the fifth time Beijing has hosted the annual conference.
“There is no meeting in the works between the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Prime Minister of India,” foreign office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said, responding to a query on whether China might facilitate talks between the two leaders.
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi visited both India and Pakistan this month, meeting top officials in both capitals.
While Beijing maintains close defense, diplomatic and economic ties with Islamabad, it has a recurring border dispute with New Delhi, which Washington and its allies have long viewed as a counterbalance to China.
However, tensions between the United States and India have sharpened, with President Donald Trump’s administration imposing tariffs of up to 50 percent on Indian exports in recent weeks.
Wang’s visit to New Delhi took place in the same context wherein he urged Indian officials to view China as a partner rather than an adversary.
The foreign office spokesperson also told the media at his weekly news briefing that despite the current trajectory of ties with India, Pakistan would welcome third-party mediation to ensure regional security and stability.
Mushahid Hussain, former federal minister and founding chairman of the Pakistan-China Institute, said Beijing still sees Islamabad as its most critical regional partner.
“After the two recent summer conflicts, Indian aggression against Pakistan and Israeli attack on Iran, with both ceasefires brokered by Trump, South Asia is a top priority for Chinese foreign policy,” Hussain told Arab News. “This is exemplified by Wang Yi’s visits to India, Afghanistan and Pakistan, terming Pakistan as ‘the most important’ of the three countries.”
