No decision on Modi-Imran Khan meeting on sidelines of SCO summit next month

No decision has been taken on a possible meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan next month on the sidelines of a summit in Bishkek, official sources said on Tuesday.

Modi is attending the annual summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Kyrgyz capital on June 13-14 where Khan is also expected to be present.

"A decision on the issue will be taken by the new government," said a government source, without completely ruling out the possibility of a meeting between Modi and Khan.

There has not been any meeting between the two leaders since Khan took over as prime minister of Pakistan in August last year.

Another source termed as "entirely speculative" reports in some section of the media that the two prime ministers are meeting in Bishkek.

India has not been engaging with Pakistan following the attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together.

The government's decision to invite leaders of the BIMSTEC countries for the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as prime minister for a second term on May 30 also reflected India's reluctance to engage with Pakistan even as the external affairs ministry said the invitations were "in line with government's focus on its 'Neighbourhood First' policy."