Indian PM announces surprise visit to Pakistan

The Indian Prime Minister will address Afghanistan law makers during his visit.

In a major surprise, PM Modi flew to Lahore this afternoon, his first touchdown in Pakistan to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

Sharing concern over terrorism, the two sides pressed for joint fight against the global menace “without selectivity and double standards”, said a joint statement issued after the talks between the two leaders. READ ALSO:Russia a strong, reliable friend of India, Modi says Russia and India will together build multi-task Kamov-226 helicopters, Modi said.

The two nations agreed to ensure, throughout the upcoming Indian presidency, continuity in the implementation of the agreements reached, further coordination of activities in the worldwide arena, and to strengthen the strategic partnership between BRICS countries.

Modi is seeking to ramp up the country’s nuclear energy use to meet the rising energy needs, with a programme for at least 12 new reactors, as well as reduce its heavy dependency on coal, the worst greenhouse gas producing fuel.

India and Russia signed 16 agreements, including manufacturing of Kamov 226 helicopters and Russian-designed nuclear reactors in India, even as Moscow affirmed its strong support for India’s UN Security Council membership bid.

He said that it was a matter of pride that so many people in Russian Federation express their fondness for India’s cultural heritage.

Modi spoke of India’s demographic dividend and his governments’ efforts to make it a producing hub. “I thank President Putin for his support”.

“Our foreign policy is going from the sublime to the ridiculous”, former union minister and Congress spokesman Manish Tewari told India’s NDTV news channel. “It is rightly with our most important defence partner”, he added.

The two sides appreciated the progress made in the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu and agreed to expedite the implementation of ongoing and upcoming projects at Kudankulam.

India and Russian Federation plan to boost their trade from around $10 billion to $30 billion over the next decade. Separately, Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Oil India Limited said they had signed a memorandum with Rosneft, which paves the way for acquisition of a stake in Taas-Yuriakh oil assets in East Siberia.

“In this context, Russian Federation welcomes India’s early accession to the Missile Technology Control Regime that would increase the effectiveness of this mechanism”.

The statement said Russian Federation and India were united by common interests in preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their falling into the hands of terrorists, as well as in strengthening multilateral export control regimes.

The opposition Congress Party called Modi’s visit irresponsible and said that nothing had changed to warrant warming of ties between the nuclear-armed rivals that only in August cancelled scheduled high-level talks after ceasefire violations across the border.

“President Putin and I are moving creatively in expanding our economic relations”.