Nawaz-Modi meetings had positive impact on Pak-India formal talks: Aziz

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the fourth Prime Minister of India to visit Pakistan and the first Prime Minister to visit Pakistan in the last 11 years. This plan of a pit stop in Lahore, that too at Sharif’s residene, which is 45 kilometres away from the airport, was successful all thanks to the security of both the countries. He told reporters that Prime Minister Modi emphasised on the necessity of regional peace during his meeting with Premier Sharif. Saeed lives openly in Pakistan and often appears on TV interviews; the government claims it lacks the evidence to charge him.

Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry later told a news conference that it was a “purely goodwill visit”. “It is really rare for leaders from the two countries to refrain from putting the other person in a spot, at least once”, the source said.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said on Tuesday that foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India would devise a map for talks on 10 identified subjects for the next six months during their meeting in mid-January, Radio Pakistan reported.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and other Indian officials were also present.

Defence analyst Maria Sultan said no doubt visit of Indian Prime Minister is a positive development and might lead the two countries on road to resolving issues.

“Modi wants to improve relations with the neighbours”. Also, two weeks ago, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Pakistan to attend a meeting on Afghanistan. “No right-thinking person shall have any reservation on it. However, the two countries have to address the Kashmir issue as per the wishes and aspirations of its people if these endeavours are to succeed”.

Nawaz and Raghavan discussed bilateral issues and the envoy’s role during his stay as the high commissioner in Pakistan, Dawn online reported.

Since he assumed power past year, Modi had been vehemently criticised in Kashmir for his policy toward Pakistan but this visit has changed that perception.

Sena’s Punjab President Sanjiv Ghanauli, Chairman Rajiv Tandon and Senior Vice-President Rajesh Palta said that “the sudden stopover in Lahore would embolden Pakistan and send wrong signals globally that India was under pressure vis-a-vis its relations with the neighbouring country”.

In Pakistan, opposition senator Sherry Rehman said that while most Pakistanis backed better ties, parliament had not been consulted and it was unclear what concessions Islamabad was ready to make.