Pakistani, Indian PMs vow to carry forward dialogue process

The Indian prime minister had a stopover in Pakistan on his way back to New Delhi from a visit to Afghanistan where he inaugurated the India-funded parliament building.

One of the first to react to the development, CPI national secretary D Raja unequivocally expressed support for the PM’s decision and said it may help the two countries arrive at a better understanding and strengthen mutual trust so that the dialogue can be taken forward.

Springing a huge foreign policy surprise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined his Pakistani counterpart at his ancestral home in Jatti Umra near Lahore.

Security was beefed up at the Lahore International Airport shortly before Modi’s arrival.

While the Indian media said the meeting was significant and showed that the Modi government’s diplomacy had a new radical approach to ties with Pakistan, the main opposition Congress party criticised the secrecy surrounding the visit. While New Delhi had confirmed to Islamabad that Modi would visit Pakistan soon, it was not decided when exactly the visit would happen, a top official told BusinessLine.

India and Pakistan resumed high-level contacts following a brief conversation between Mr Sharif and Mr Modi at the Paris climate change talks last month.

“Modi’s stopover on Friday was in marked contrast to the last visit by an Indian prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who rode into Lahore from New Delhi on the inaugural run of a bus route in 1999”, the report said.

Both PMs said the objective of the peace process is to aim for prosperity of the people on both sides of the Wagah-divide. “Has there been an agreement at the Heart of Asia conference (in Kabul) about the use of land transit route for trade with Afghanistan?” Modi said India’s scheme of 1,000 scholarships every year for Afghan students will continue.

Former Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira also welcomed the visit of Indian Prime Minister. “PM Modi’s adventures will have serious implications”. India has accused Pakistan of using terrorism to achieve its foreign policy goals, while the latter has said normal relations can only be restored when Kashmir’s status is resolved. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated over issues such as Kashmir and Pakistan’s handling of radical Islamic terrorist groups based in the country. Sharif and his brother and Punjab (Pakistan) chief minister Shahbaz Sharif were among those who received Modi at the airport.

A PML-N source said that Sharif had invited Modi to attend the marriage of his granddaughter Mehrun Nisa which is taking place today at the Sharif’s Raiwind palatial residence.

The Wall Street Journal described Modi’s surprise move as “likely to add momentum to a tentative reconciliation process” between the nuclear-armed neighbours, while The Chicago Tribune noted it as “potential sign of thawing” relations. The countries have fought three wars since 1947, two of them over Kashmir.

Qazi Khalilullah gave no further details of the visit expected on Friday afternoon.

Returning home later on Christmas Day, Modi could also face criticism from hawks within his own party’s ranks who object to any kind of engagement with Pakistan.

He also made a veiled reference to Pakistan on the issue of cross-border terrorism in Afghanistan.

Efforts to agree on a peace deal took a step back in 2008, when Pakistani militants attacked the Indian city of Mumbai, killing more than 160 people in a series of coordinated assaults.