All legal requirements were fulfilled on Modi visit to Pakistan, says Sartaj

Narendra Modi had gifted a pink turban to Nawz on his surprise visit to Pakistan on Friday.

Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has dispelled the impression that the entourage of the Indian Prime Minister visited Lahore without any visa.

Addressing the general public, in his last monthly radio address “Mann Ki Baat” for the year 2015, Modi said: “Start-up India, Stand-up India has brought new opportunity for the youth of our country”. The “Composite Dialogue” will restart after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The next step will be for the two countries’ foreign secretaries to meet in the middle of next month, he added.

Sources said Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is likely to have review meetings with nearly all the secretaries and departments concerned to understand the “possible new areas” of cooperation, before he heads to Islamabad. Lahore trip of Modi was in fact the culmination of a bout of diplomatic engagements between the two South Asian neighbours across almost a month, following what was seemingly an impromptu meeting between Modi and Sharif on the sidelines of the Paris climate summit on November 30. The visit can be seen as a major initiative towards normalisation of relations between the two countries and beginning of bilateral dialogue at all the levels.

The opposition Congress Party called Modi’s visit irresponsible and said that nothing had happened to warrant warming of ties between the rivals.

With a military man having a greater say in the process, there is more confidence about discussing such sensitive topics, several officials said. “I am confident the visit will reduce tensions”, Shafqat Mehmood, a leader of PTI, said.

“Afghanistan will succeed only when terrorism no longer flows across the border, when nurseries and sanctuaries of terrorism are shut, and their patrons are no longer in business”, Modi said.

Late last week, on Christmas day, pictures flooded both mainstream and social media of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif walking hand-in-hand in Lahore.

In a series of tweets, Saeed also said: “Personal friendship aside, Modi is a murderer and brutal killer of Muslims, and occupier of Kashmir”, adding that he should not have been welcomed.

Mehrun Nisa, Nawaz Sharif’s granddaughter (daughter of Sharif’s son Maryam Nawaz), married Raheel Munir, son of well known industrialist Chaudhry Munir, who was the first to shake hands with Modi when he got off the auto at Jati Umrah outside Lahore on Friday evening.