No bilateral meeting with Pakistan amid SAARC moot: India

NEW DELHI - India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh would not be conducting any bilateral meetings with his Pakistani counterparts during an upcoming visit to Islamabad to attend a summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

“Let me categorically state that home minister is going for South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) event. There will be no bilateral meetings with Pakistan,” Indian MEA spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted, dispelling rumors in the Indian media that he may meet counterparts from other countries, including Pakistan’s Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

https://twitter.com/MEAIndia/status/758960109292625920

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh is set to visit Islamabad next week to attend a meeting of SAARC interior ministers. The meeting is slated to take place on August 3 and 4.

Singh’s visit comes at a time when relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbors have a hit a low point, which Pakistan claims is due to India’s suppression of protests, which erupted after the extra-judicial killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhanuddin Wani.