Indian PM makes surprise visit to Pakistan

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Lahore on a surprise visit, opposition JD(U) said it was “stunned” by the decision, especially in the wake of violations by the neighbouring country on the border, including the beheading of an Indian jawan.

Modi and Sharif resumed high-level contacts with a brief conversation at climate change talks in Paris late last month, part of efforts to restart a peace dialogue plagued by militant attacks and distrust.

Mistrust between India and Pakistan runs deep and in Afghanistan many believe that Islamabad sponsors the Taliban insurgency to weaken the Kabul government and limit the influence of India. Earlier today Modi tweeted about his visit to Pakistan and informed that he would be wishing Nawaz Sharif on his birthday today. The Pakistan visit lasted about two hours.

“Prime Minister Modi has once again proved his critics, who call him a Hindu hardliner, wrong by his unconventional style and by leading India’s foreign policy from the front”, said K.G. Suresh, a senior fellow at the New Delhi-based Vivekananda International Foundation, which was founded by Ajit Doval, India’s national security adviser.

“Dialogue is the only alternative to improve good neighbourly relations and sort out all problems bilaterally”, Raja said, adding it is “a welcome move” even though the visit to Pakistan was not mentioned in Parliament and has come as a “surprise”.

The two prime ministers flew to Sharif’s estate in Lahore named Jati Umra.

Since independence from Britain in 1947, Pakistan and India have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, the Himalayan region that both claim in its entirety.