‘Nawaz-Modi meeting to have far-reaching impact on peace’

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Saturday said that Indo-Pak relations should move beyond “VIP diplomacy” of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, and must be carried forward to “people to people contact”.

In the first visit by an Indian leader to Pakistan in more than a decade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Pakistani counterpart in Lahore on Friday, rekindling hopes for a detente between the rival nations.

The meeting between the two prime ministers was welcomed by politicians in both India and Pakistan while the UN, the US, China and other countries have termed it a positive development which would leave a far-reaching impact on the regional peace, The Nation reported. Tensions between Hindu-majority India and mostly Muslim Pakistan, home to 20 per cent of the world’s population, risk fuelling extremists in South Asia.

And, his story was “Modi and his delegation arriving in Lahore without visas”- hysterical isn’t it!

Congress leader Manish Tewari called it an “adventure” that would have “serious impact on national security” in the absence of any change in circumstances on the ground, while the Communist Party of India welcomed the visit saying it would take the dialogue process forward.

Sena leaders said that such “objectionable steps raise question on country’s image and credibility”. Mr. Modi consistently attacked the Manmohan Singh government for trying to make peace with India’s neighbour ass he was in run for prime minster in 2014. But given that Mr Modi’s address to the Afghan parliament included urging closer cooperation between India, Pakistan and others, there are grounds for rare levels of optimism.

The information of the stopover was introduced by Modi on Twitter: “Looking ahead to meeting PM Nawaz Sharif in Lahore at present afternoon, the place I will drop by on my means again to Delhi”.

Relations between India and Pakistan have had a couple of false starts after Sharif accepted Modi’s invitation to attend his inauguration a year ago.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a bold and powerful minister he doesn’t need anyone’s advice or permission to visit any country, including Pakistan”, he said.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947 and a lasting peace deal has so far proved elusive, with deadly violence still flaring in disputed Kashmir.

Soon after his arrival, Modi flew to Sharif’s farmhouse in the suburbs of Lahore in a helicopter.

Modi requested the visit a few hours earlier while in Afghanistan, where he stopped on his return from a visit to the Russian Federation, according to the Reuters news service.