The 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit came to an end on Thursday evening with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif's handshake on the concluding day hogging the limelight. The Ministry of External Affairs termed Modi's maiden SAARC summit a success.

Besides the thaw in Indo-Pak relations, a face-saver of the summit was the SAARC countries signing a framework agreement on cooperation in power sector. However, they failed to finalise the much-awaited motor vehicle and railway pacts for greater people-to-people contact and movement of goods due to opposition from Pakistan.

The next SAARC summit will be held in Islamabad in 2015 as Pakistan comes next in the alphabetical order of the eight member countries.

A warm handshake and a brief conversation between a smiling Modi and Sharif replacing their cold vibes brought cheer to SAARC Summit during the retreat of the multi-nation meet. Modi put his hand on Sharif's arm as the two leaders looked at cameras with a long handshake even as they exchanged a few sentences. Loud applause greeted this apparent thaw which was in contrast to the two leaders ignoring each other on Wednesday. The brief Modi-Sharif bonhomie was summed up by a tweet by the Indian spokesman Syed Akbaruddin, "the photo all were waiting for".

This was the second time during the day that the two leaders had shaken hands and exchanged pleasantries, the first occasion being the retreat just outside the Nepalese capital. Earlier, Modi also clapped before and after Sharif's vote of thanks as the host for the next SAARC Summit in Islamabad next year.

As in the past SAARC summits, the chemistry between Indian and Pakistani leaders grabbed much attention at this 18th conclave of the eight South Asian nations.

At the opening session yesterday, Modi and Sharif had ignored each other leading to a guessing game of whether they would meet even briefly.

The relief on the faces of the host Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, other leaders and delegates was palpable as they all clapped when Modi and Sharif vigorously shook hands. That also marked a positive point for the Summit which achieved little else.

Lack of warmth between the two Prime Ministers at the SAARC is reflective of the sudden downslide in Indo-Pak ties after Sharif had attended Modi's swearing-in ceremony as did most of the SAARC leaders in May this year.

Consultations held by Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi with Kashmiri separatists led to the cancellation by India of Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh's visit to Islamabad in September. Since then both countries have maintained that they are willing to engage in a meaningful dialogue provided the other side takes the initiative.

Ahead of SAARC, Pakistan did not help matters with Sharif insisting that he would consult Kashmiri leaders again before any dialogue with India and maintained that the "ball is in India's court" since it had unilaterally cancelled the talks. Modi had structured bilateral meetings with all SAARC heads of governments and states except Sharif on the sidelines of the 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit.

There were hectic efforts to pursue the Pakistani side, which stalled the inking of the pacts on the pretext that internal processes were not completed following which three months' time was set for getting approval.

The disappointment over failure to sign the pacts was visible among the Nepalese leaders who were trying very hard to make the summit a 'success'.

The framework energy pact will enable cooperation in the power sector among the eight member countries and facilitate integrated operation of the regional power grid.

Pakistan's opposition to connectivity pacts came notwithstanding strong push by all member countries to have these pacts for greater transport links in the region.

"A time period of three months have been set for approval to the Motor Vehicle and Railway pacts," Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, who is also the SAARC chair, said in his address at the concluding session of the 18th summit of the regional grouping.

Diplomats said the agreements have discussed at various senior levels and there had been no objection from any country and earlier no one had indicated that they needed approvals of their internal processes.

Source: IBN