Pakistan not expecting much from January talks: Aziz

To a question, he said the visit of Indian Prime Minister was not formal, as he (Modi) made a telephonic call to Prime Minister Sharif and expressed his desire to make a stopover in Pakistan and meet him.

Meanwhile, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya in Indore said that Modi, with his unscheduled visit to Pakistan, has proved that he has a “56-inch” chest.

However, this was of secondary interest to a reporter from a Lahore-based news channel, who obviously clueless tried to meet two ends and make a story.

While Pakistani officials say that date and venue of January’s Foreign Secretary’s meeting are still being worked out, media reports from Delhi speak about January 15 in Islamabad as a possibility.

But when Modi has gone to Pakistan, they are saying why has he gone there. The Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office who visited hamlets along the worldwide border here and reviewed the progress of projects, explained to people the benefits of Modi’s visit.

Previous attempts to resume talks have been postponed time after time, mostly due to the Indian government’s insistence that the focus of discussion must be, first and foremost, about terrorism.

In an earlier announcement, Aziz said that the meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries has been scheduled for the mid of next month.

India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars and have a simmering territorial dispute, have a hard relationship.

“The challenge in India-Pakistan relations has always been to keep up the momentum of talks despite hiccups that are inevitable”, J. Jegannathan, professor of South Asian studies at the Central University of Jammu, told The Telegraph.

On Modi’s meetings with Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif at worldwide summits, they are asking why talks have been held outside the country when it should have been held in either of the country. “Talks may be derailed by a terror attack”, said former Indian foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh.

“Prime Minister of Pakistan welcomed the initiative of the Prime Minister of India to visit Lahore”, Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said.

“Still it has created an atmosphere of goodwill”, he added.

The other opposition Pakistan Tehrike-e-Insaf (PTI) party also welcomed the Indian prime minister’s visit as a positive step that will improve relations.