Bharti Airtel issued a statement on Wednesday making it clear that talks with MTN are still going on and the company has not reached a final conclusion. The statement was issued since international media reports speculated that the deal may have been clinched.

"Reference our ongoing talks with MTN, there have been reports in some sections of the media that a preliminary agreement has been reached between Bharti Airtel and MTN. We would like to categorically deny that any such agreement has been reached between the two companies. The discussions are still on. As and when there is any development, we will share the same with the media," said Bharti.