It is heartening to note that Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi met in Russian city Ufa on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in a bid to restart the stalled peace process between the two countries. It has been reported by media that the two leaders warmly shook hands and posed for a photograph before proceeding for the talks.
Their last handshake was at Kathmandu in November last year on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit that came after several incidents of firing along the Line of Control, leading to the cancellation of Secretary level talks.
That the SCO forum has provided the leaders of the two countries an ideal occasion is a fact that has manifested in prime minister Modi and Nawaz agreeing to hold bilateral talks on all issues including terrorism. One can deduce from the joint statement read out by the foreign secretaries of the two countries soon after a Modi-Nawaz meeting that India has also agreed to discuss the core dispute between the two countries, Kashmir. Their meeting, in a nut shell, was no less than a breakthrough in bilateral relations. This will surely help, among other things, give birth to effects intended to create a particular atmosphere for resumption of stalled talks.
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