India’s Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to Pakistan yesterday (Dec 25), his first such trip as prime minister to this Islamic nation that has been India’s long-standing archrival in the region. They also had a brief meeting in Paris at the start of this month.
Advertisement
More Chinese cities issue red alerts for heavy smog
After four days of red alert Beijing lowered it today with a warning by officials that the smog will persist till the weekend. Paquette said the company’s first 500 containers of fresh mountain air sold quickly in China, and they’re sending 4,000 more.
She said the Indian Prime Minister should also play his role in reducing visa restrictions between the two countries along with stopping human rights violations in the Indian Held Kashmir. In 1999, Vajpayee made a historic bilateral visit, riding from New Delhi to Lahore on the inaugural run of a new bus route between the countries.
Three Hyderabad youths with alleged Islamic State connections held in Nagpur
Police claimed that, the three young men had gone to Nalgonda yesterday, to the home of late Salauddin, a known SIMI activist. “The three men are from Telangana and have been handed over to Telangana ATS”, Maharashtra ATS said in a statement.
After two-and-half hours, Mr Modi was waved off by Mr Sharif at the airport.
Sandra Bland jail death: Jury rules against indictments
Bland was taken to Waller County jail, where she was found hanged with a plastic trash bag from a metal barrier in her cell”. It’s possible that the cameras missed it, but she can be heard complaining “You slammed me, knocked me to the ground”.
Sharif hugged Modi after he landed at the airport in the eastern city of Lahore and the two left by helicopter for Sharif’s nearby family estate.
Adil Najam, the dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, said in an interview that there was a danger of overanalyzing the visit.
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. India has accused Pakistan of using terrorism to achieve its foreign-policy goals, while the latter has said normal relations can be restored only when Kashmir’s status is resolved. However he refused to share any details about the place of meeting in his meeting.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif received his Indian counterpart.
Defence analyst Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Shahid Latif said the meeting between the two prime ministers was a positive move and it would pave the way for resolving the core issues between the two nuclear powers.
Top officials in both countries were surprised by the visit, which had been a closely kept secret. “Access to Afghanistan is important for India and it is only possible when India and Pakistan relations are improved”, he said.
Modi was on his way back from a visit to Russian Federation.
“As the common neighbor and friend of both Pakistan and India, China is happy to see and will support, as always, Pakistan and India to enhance mutual trust and achieve common development through continuous dialogue”, said the spokesman.
India’s main opposition Congress party, however, was quick to criticise Modi’s “irresponsible” decision. We would have welcomed it, ” Anand Sharma, a Congress Party spokesman said.
Stop-over in Lahore on way back from Kabul marks first visit by an Indian prime minister to Pakistan in over a decade.
The fact that Modi arrived from Kabul is extremely significant considering the fact that New Delhi and Islamabad are engaged in a shadow war over exercising influence in Afghanistan.
Earlier Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi agreed on a meeting of national security advisers of both countries in Ufa and a meeting was scheduled on August 22 afterwards.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and training insurgents fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denies. More than 68,000 people have been killed in the violence, which began in 1989. Several Pakistani cricketers and ghazal singers are popular in India and many Pakistani families have been visiting India for medical treatment and for other reasons. Kashmiri tea was also served. Tensions between Hindu-majority India and mostly Muslim Pakistan, home to 20 percent of the world’s population, are seen as risking fueling extremists in South Asia.
Advertisement
Saeed, the chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) and mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, used insulting and derogatory language against PM Modi for visiting Pakistan. Saeed lives in the open in Pakistan and often appears in TV interviews.
