NEW DELHI: The proposed meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington will not happen as the latter has cancelled his US visit in the wake of the terror attack in Lahore.
But Modi will fly to the Belgian capital on Tuesday night, a week after the deadly terror bombings in Brussels, as part of a three-nation tour during which he will attend the Nuclear Security Summit in the US capital and visit Saudi Arabia.
In Brussels, he will attend the long-pending India-EU Summit and will also hold a bilateral summit meeting with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel, where ways to deal with terrorism will form a “very important part”. India-EU ties witnessed some strain after the 28-member bloc didn’t responded to New Delhi’s proposal for a brief visit by Modi to Brussels, the EU headquarters, during his trip to France, Germany and Canada in April last year.
“The attacks in Brusels, of course, will be a very important part of the discussions. In fact, it will be the starting point of the talks,” Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary Nandini Singla, told reporters. Modi will also meet top businessmen, including a delegation of diamond traders, and will address the Indian diaspora. He will also meet parliamentarians and a delegation of indologists, separately.