Indian PM’s entourage were issued temporary visas: Aziz

“The Prime Ministers discuss India Pakistan relations”, tweeted Vikas Swarup, spokesman for India’s MEA.

Responding to a point raised by leader of the opposition Aitzaz Ahsan, Aziz said no secret meeting was held between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan at Kathmandu previous year.

Spurning official talks in the capital, Islamabad, the Indian premier chose to make a trip to Nawaz Sharif’s residence in Raiwind on Friday, where he was celebrating his birthday and the wedding of his granddaughter.

Indian officials maintained Delhi has its “red lines”. The visit, announced by Modi on Twitter, gave the appearance of being spontaneous, with Sharif’s foreign affairs adviser not able to reach Lahore in time. Leaders of India and Pakistan have met on four occasions in the past one month.

Noting that Modi “showed a knack for wielding what can be a potent diplomatic weapon-the element of surprise”, Time magazine called his Friday visit to Pakistan as “The biggest surprise of all”.

Ever since Narendra Modi has been sworn in as the Prime Minister, Indians are witnessing a new wave of digitalization across the country.

Asked if Modi may have apprised Putin about his plans, the source said it was “possible”, in a general way.

While Pakistan’s army may have changed its thinking on talks, even the landmark Modi visit or support from influential facilitators does not guarantee success in a fraught peace process where all sides remain deeply suspicious.

“Our understanding is that when Modi was in the United States, he was encouraged very strongly by Obama to rethink his approach toward Pakistan”, the minister said. “As PM, he must (be) allowed risky decisions since buck stops with him”. India accuses Pakistan of supporting an ongoing separatist insurgency in the state.

He said both the prime ministers had five meetings. “It will definitely break the ice”.

Despite the continuous crackdown on the separatists in Kashmir, the leading separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani clarified that they don’t have any reservation about improving ties between India and Pakistan.

While the mainstream American media hailed the brief stopover as a significant development in the relationship between the two South Asian neighbours, newspapers in Pakistan, like The Express Tribune said it was a “step towards normalising ties between the two neighbours which have fought three wars”. They were seen smiling as they walked alongside each other and chatted in Sharif’s living room. “It’s a small step because we don’t know what kind of sustainable progress is based around it. We don’t know if this is more than a grand gesture”, she told AFP.

“Agreeing with PM Modi, Sharif brothers supposedly told him – ‘Well said”, the report said.