Cop 21: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lauds PM Modi- Sharif’s brief meeting in Paris

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif met in Paris on the sidelines of COP 21.

The two premiers shook hands and sat down for a chat. However, there was nothing constructive about the meeting.

But, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the meeting between the two leaders.

"...obviously, if the meeting did take place, we welcome it," Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The Indian side describing the encounter as a "brief exchange of courtesies", but Pakistanis terming it as a "good" meeting.

The meeting was the first between the two leaders after July when they had met in the Russian city of Ufa and had agreed that their National Security Advisors would meet.

The two leaders had attended the UN General Assembly session in September but did not meet even though they had stayed in the same hotel.

Modi and Sharif came under one roof during a peacekeeping summit held on the sidelines of the General Assembly, but only waved at each other and did not speak or shake hands.

The UN Chief had reiterated that dialogue is the only way for resolving differences between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

(Image: Indiatimes)