ASTANA (TIP): PM Modi on June 8 met with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Astana, capital city of Kazakhstan, ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. Modi and Sharif attended a welcome banquet to the small grouping that comprises China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. India and Pakistan will be inducted as full members at the summit.

Sources said the two Prime Ministers exchanged pleasantries at the function, but no bilateral meeting was expected.

“Since it was the first occasion when the two leaders came across each other after Sharif’s operation, Modi enquired about his health. He also enquired about Sharif’s mother and family,” an official source present there, said.