ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday urged his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to realise the goal of peace in the region through “collective endeavours.”

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Prime Minister Khan wrote a letter to his Indian counterpart Modi congratulating him on assuming the office as prime minister, officials in Foreign Ministry said.

According to them Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also addressed a letter to his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar congratulating him on assumption of office.

“The letters underscored Pakistan’s consistent policy of peaceful neighbourhood and the vision of working for durable peace and stability in South Asia with peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues, including Kashmir dispute,” said an official.

He said that the Pakistani leaders emphasised the need to work together, on the basis of mutual respect and trust, to address challenges faced by people of both the countries, including poverty and underdevelopment.

PM Khan and Modi will come across next week at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, but no official meeting has been scheduled.

The two leaders will only have a handshake at the Summit unless they spring a surprise to have a bilateral meeting.

Senior officials at the Foreign Ministry told The Nation that no formal meeting was planned between the two leaders.

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“Modi is known for surprises and he can suddenly hug Imran Khan for a meeting but there is nothing scheduled so far. There will of course be handshakes when they get together for the main meeting,” said one official.

He reminded that last month the meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and then Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was not planned at the same venue but “it happened.”

Qureshi had held an informal meeting with Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Foreign Ministers moot in Bishkek in May.

“I told Sushma Swaraj that we are still firm on the statement of PM Imran Khan that if India takes one step forward, Pakistan would reciprocate with two,” Qureshi later said.

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Condemning terrorism in all its forms, the foreign minister stressed the need for addressing root causes of the curse, saying Pakistan was amongst the few countries which successfully countered terrorism.

Another official said Pakistan is ready for meetings anytime and anywhere. “We are the advocates of dialogue. We are ready to engage in talks at all capitals of the world,” he said, adding a meeting between the two PMs was a still possibility later in London where they will be flying to watch World Cup cricket matches.