Better Pakistan-India ties to benefit entire region

In a surprise move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Lahore on Friday and greeted his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on his birthday.

Narendra Modi in Pakistan: The other Indian prime ministers who have visited Pakistan are Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jang newspaper said. Pakistan, in turn, has sought to make the disputed Kashmir state the focus of talks.

“We also extend our congratulations to Pakistan prime minister for his vision and leadership in this pursuit of peace”, he said. Sharif, however, came to India past year to attend Modi’s swearing-in ceremony.

After the meeting, Pakistani foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said, “The Modi-Sharif meeting was held in a very cordial atmosphere…it has been decided that there will be greater interaction, people-to-people contact, and an environment of goodwill will be created”.

On December 23, the neighbouring country had proposed talks between their foreign secretaries in Islamabad on January 15 to discuss all outstanding issues. 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.

A joint committee chaired by the two home ministers will meet annually to deal with common security challenges, including for the first time cross-border terrorism.

Kaira said he highly appreciated the positive gesture of the Indian Prime Minister as it would open positive vistas for holding composite dialogue between the two countries. “The India-Pakistan story has many hard issues lingering for decades”.

A second member of Sharif’s cabinet said the same of Modi.

Pakistani officials say “ownership” of peace talks by the military and the appointment of a recently retired general as the national security adviser have given Pakistan renewed confidence to restart dialogue with India, including speaking about the thorny issue of terrorism.

“Prime Minister of Pakistan welcomed the initiative of the Prime Minister of India to visit Lahore”, Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said. Modi’s visit is the first by an Indian prime minister to Pakistan since the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed in the Indian city by militants trained in Pakistan.

A Pakistani reporter hailing from C-42 channel on Sunday gained views after his report of “No visa of 120 Indian delegates escorting PM Modi on Pakistan ground” went viral on social media.

“Traditional build-up to an Indian PM’s visit to Pakistan would have seen different interest groups bringing all kinds of pressure to bear”, The Times of India said. In New York, at the UNGA, Pakistan turned down India’s proposal for talks between the NSAs saying it also wanted a meeting between Aziz and Sushma Swaraj.

Khan who welcomed the surprise visit of Modi to Lahore on Friday took to social micro-blogging website Twitter for a veiled swipe at the alleged involvement of an Indian businessman.