India  denied any plans for a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif during the SAARC summit in Kathmandu.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin, in answer to a query at a briefing, said there is “no such proposal at hand” and that the issue is not under discussion.

He added that no request has been received from Pakistan for such a meeting and that “there is no request that we intend to give”.

“That is where we are,” he said, adding that there is still a month before the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in Kathmandu where the heads of the eight member states would be present.

Relations between India and Pakistan have nosedived over continuing firing across the border which has led to casualties on both sides.

India called off the foreign secretary level talks in August over the Pakistan envoy meeting Kashmiri separatists.

Pakistan has also been continually raking up the issue at the UN, asking the international community to intervene in the “core issue of Kashmir”.