By Hamza Ameer Islamabad 17 August : The meeting of Pakistan Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping is on the agenda for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, which is scheduled to take place on September 15-16 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, diplomatic sources have confirmed.
Since the day he was elected in April, Sharif is yet to travel to China which is considered to be a bit unusual considering that Beijing was the one of the top priorities for any government set-up in Islamabad in the past.
Many believe the reason could be due to the rigorous Covid-19 protocol implemented by the Chinese governmentofficials, the root of the delay may not be limited to the pandemic.
However the Prime Minister might be able to have a one-on-one conversation with the Chinese President on the sidelines of the summit scheduled for next week.
Rumours of the supposed meeting are going around The two sides have yet to officially confirm the meeting.
There is also no guarantee that Xi will attend the summit in person, since many have stated that he could only speak to it.
The SCO summit is of great importance in that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be in the room.
Diplomatic sources have stated that Pakistan is working to find a way to have a bilateral meeting between Putin and Sharif.
India will take over the post of the presidency of the SCO and a courtesy call between Modi and Sharif is anticipated to take place on the sidelines.
“Despite initial optimism about some sort of agreement to thaw following the change of the government in Pakistan there is no sign of any positive developments in the bilateral arena,” said one of the sources.
The optimism is a dim possibility, as there was never any official communication between these two neighbors during the respective Independence Days.
However, soldiers from both sides swapped sweets and other gifts at the border.
Relations between India and Pakistan have been in decline since the year 2019 when the Modi government at the Centre eliminated the Articles 370 and 35A, which altered the statutory of Jammu and Kashmir.
However, despite tensions Pakistan has shown its interest to take part in the international drills to counter terrorism in India in October.
If it does happen then it would be the first time Pakistan will send its troops to India.
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