Paris: Prime Minister Narendra Modi shook hands and talked with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif for a few minutes in Paris Monday, as the 21st session of the Conference of Parties or COP21, the global summit on climate change, began. Modi and Sharif shook hands in a lobby of the Conference Centre in the French capital and then sat down on a sofa where they were seen talking animatedly. The exact details of the talks were not known but there is expectation here that it will help to ease tensions between the two nations after the planned meeting of their national security advisors was cancelled in August. The brief meeting may help to arrange a cricket series between their teams in Sri Lanka next month and participation by India in the Heart of Asia Conference in Islamabad next week, some media reports said. Pakistan Television repeatedly showed footage of Modi and Sharif seated together and exchanging views. PTV reported that the meeting was held in a “cordial atmosphere” which it said was a “positive and happy occasion”.
