Following a day of visible cold vibes at the SAARC summit here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif will have a 12-hour-long window of opportunity for a possible meeting on Thursday. Of those 12 hours, they are expected to be at a retreat at Dhulikhel, nearly 30 km from Kathmandu, for about 5 hours. They will leave for the retreat at 9 am and Modi leaves Kathmandu at about 9 pm. “The retreat is probably the last opportunity, where they could have a pull-aside meeting. They will be back by afternoon for the concluding session of the SAARC summit,” said a source. Official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Syed Akbaruddin said on Wednesday said that “no structured meeting” with Pakistan is planned and reiterated that India is ready for a “meaningful dialogue”. When asked whether this was a “missed opportunity” since Modi could have had a meeting to convey India’s concerns on the slow pace of trial in Pakistan on the Mumbai terror attacks, Akbaruddin said that if a meeting could quicken the trial’s pace, that would have happened earlier. On Wednesday, Modi and Sharif, who were seated two seats apart at City Hall during the summit, did not even exchange nods. They shared the stage for about four hours but there were no handshakes ot any exchange of pleasantries. At first, Sharif totally ignored Modi after entering the stage. He did not look at Modi and proceeded to his seat. Then, when Sharif was invited to speak, Modi started reading a newspaper supplement. As other heads of state and government clapped at the announcement of Sharif’s name, Modi was seen reading. But when Modi’s name was announced, Koirala, Sharif and all other leaders clapped. While Modi raised the issue of 26/11 perfunctorily without naming any country during his speech, Sharif said the SAARC countries should fight against poverty, instead of fighting with each other. Once the inaugural session of the summit ended, all attending heads of the state and government were told to assemble at a holding room. While everyone proceeded to the holding room, Koirala and Modi did not leave the podium. Modi kept talking to Koirala and the two left for the holding room after a good two minutes. When asked whether there was a chance encounter between Modi and Sharif on Wednesday, the MEA spokesperson said, “If two leaders are face-to-face, it is common courtesy to exchange pleasantries, but that cannot be called a dialogue.” Sharif, on his part, was evasive on Wednesday when media asked him about a possible meeting with Modi. On Tuesday, the Pakistan PM had responded to questions on talks by putting the ball in India’s court. “Cancellation of talks was New Delhi’s unilateral decision,” he had said.
