PM Modi meets Nawaz Sharif at COP 21 in Paris
Paris: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif at COP 21 here today.
“PM @narendramodi meets PM Nawaz Sharif at COP 21 in Paris,” tweeted Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup.
The two leaders shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.
World leaders are all set to begin their round of talks on Monday with the objective of achieving an elusive agreement to counter global warming, which has reached calamitous levels.
During the conference, India’s 25-member delegation will focus on Prime Minister Modi’s call for ‘Climate Justice’ that he had made in his address at the United Nations General Assembly last month.
The brief surprise meeting between Modi and Sharif was hailed as a “positive development” by Pakistani media
Pakistan Television (PTV) repeatedly showed footage of Modi and Sharif seated together and exchanging views.
PTV reported that the meeting was held in a “cordial atmosphere” which it said was a “positive and happy occasion”.
Modi and Sharif shook hands in a lobby of the Conference Centre in the French capital and then sat down on a sofa where they were seen talking animatedly.
The exact details of the talks were not known but there is expectation here that it will help to ease tensions between the two nations after the planned meeting of their national security advisors was cancelled in August.
The brief meeting may help to arrange a cricket series between their teams in Sri Lanka next month and participation by India in the Heart of Asia Conference in Islamabad next week, some media reports said.