Youth Congress protest Modi’s visit to Lahore

“Both premiers agreed to continue the peace process (between the two countries) and work together for the goal”, he said.

Actor Anupam Kher, who was at the centre of several controversial debates on intolerance, today jumped in to praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise visit to Lahore.

The two leaders had a brief encounter last month on the sidelines of the United Nations climate change conference in Paris, after which the countries’ national security advisors met in Bangkok, Thailand, for discussions on terrorism, the disputed territory of Kashmir and other issues, officials said.

Delegation-level bilateral talks between India and Afghanistan were held here on Friday, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani respectively.

One of the first public signs of the visit came Friday morning when Modi, during a stop in the Afghan capital of Kabul, tweeted that he is “looking forward to meeting” Sharif in Lahore, “where I will drop by on my way back to Delhi”.

PM Modi was on his way home after a visit to Russian Federation.

Pakistan rejects the accusation but it has struggled to turn around perceptions in Afghanistan, where social media users sent out a stream of glowing commentary on Modi’s visit, contrasting the parliament building with the destruction wrought by Taliban suicide bombers.

The Indian prime minister also met Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah and former president Hamid Karzai.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (4 to 6 January, 2004): Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Islamabad to attend the 12 th SAARC Summit.

Dipankar Banerjee, a defence analyst at New Delhi-based think tank Forum for Strategic Initiatives, said India was “vulnerable to Pakistan and China both in terms of missile attacks and air strikes” and that the S-400 defence systems were “very desirable” despite a hefty price tag.

He was scheduled to visit Pakistan for a regional summit next year.

The two countries have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir. “But today, let us at least resolve to help Afghanistan – in the best traditions of good neighbourliness – through more effective transit arrangements”, she said.

India and Pakistan, home to 20 percent of the world’s population, will start a “comprehensive bilateral dialogue”, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on December 9 in Islamabad in a joint briefing with Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan’s de facto foreign minister.