Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa will hold dialogue with his Bhutanese counterpart, Gigme Y. Thinley, on the refugee issue at the sidelines of the 12th SAARC Summit in Pakistan, reports said Thursday.

“I will talk with my Bhutanese counterpart with regard to the recent deadlock seen in resolving the refugee problem,” published reports quoted PM Thapa, as saying, Wednesday.

The sideline talks were earlier scheduled to take place between Ambassador-at-large Dr. Bhekh Bahadur Thapa and Bhutanese Foreign Minister Khandu Wangchuk in Pakistan.

But the plan could not be materialised as Wangchuk Monday sent a letter to Nepal’s Foreign Ministry expressing inability to take part in the SAARC Summit, Kantipur daily said.

In the letter, Wangchuk said he would be unable to participate in the SAARC Summit as he is engaged in the fight against terrorism in his own country, the daily said.

The refugee problem got a new turn when refugees of Khudunabari camp stoned the Bhutanese joint verification team (JVT) members a few days ago.

The refugees were provoked by the derogatory pre-conditions imposed by the Bhutanese JVT, which was far against the mandate of the Ministerial Joint Committee, according to reports.