China on Monday said its President Xi Jinping and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had met “several times” during the recently-held Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kazakhstan capital, Astana, PTI reported. Beijing’s statement came days after reports said Xi had skipped a customary meeting with Sharif at the SCO summit after two Chinese teachers were murdered in Balochistan last week.

“Some reports are just nonsense and unwanted,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said, according to PTI. “China and Pakistan enjoy an all-weather strategic partnership.” However, the spokesperson did not confirm if the meetings between Xi and Sharif were bilateral in nature or not.

On June 8, it was reported that two Chinese citizens who were kidnapped from Quetta in Pakistan by the Islamic State group had been killed. China had condemned the incident saying the abduction highlighted the “risks” associated with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the Hindustan Times had reported.

Last week it was reported that Xi had held meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev, except Sharif at the SCO summit. Meanwhile, it was also reported that the Pakistan prime minister had met with the presidents of Kazakhstan, Russia and Afghanistan, but did not meet Xi.

Lu said all member nations at the summit had agreed to “build on the Shanghai spirit” and step up the cooperation between the new and old members. “The summit has realised the first-ever membership enlargement of the SCO,” Lu said. “As you know India and Pakistan have got full membership.”

The spokesperson further said that the summit appreciated the Belt Road Forum which was held in Beijing last month. This forum was boycotted by India over concerns relating to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.