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Modi’s impromptu Lahore visit: Was the meeting pre-panned?
“China’s attitude towards India and Pakistan is that we would like to see improvement of relations”, he said.
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Reacting to Modi-Sharif’s surprise meet in Lahore yesterday, senior BJP leader and noted scholar Subramanian Swamy on Saturday suggested that the PM should be given free hand on Pakistan.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party boss Imran Khan additionally invited Mr. Modi’s trip and said it will enhance ties between the two nations.
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.
“His pre-poll regular belligerence and the post-poll abrupt bonhomie vis-a-vis Pakistan is a sad mismatch, indicative of a doublespeak”, they remarked.
Akbar said the depth and extent of positive response to the meeting between the two government heads has been “extremely reassuring” and noted that mainstream political parties in Pakistan and the Left in India had also welcomed it besides the outside world. They will also discuss the possible dates for talks between National Security Advisers Ajit Doval and Gen. (retd.) Janjua who will focus on terrorism.
“By keeping everyone in dark about the visit, your gaffe merited an apology from the country”, the party leaders added.
Some 11 members of Modi’s delegation accompanied him to the Jati Umerah who were issued a 72-hour visa. Officials say the “redlines” around the Hurriyat meetings with Pakistani officials are now relaxed, and High Commissioner in Delhi Abdul Basit has met the Hurriyat leadership, albeit quietly, around the talks between India and Pakistan in the past month. These included Pakistan’s reach-out to Kashmiri separatists that derailed talks past year and the issue of terrorism.
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.
Earlier Modi also wished Sharif on his birthday that is celebrated on December 25. Perhaps, for him 120 people landing without a visa is more historic than an Indian prime minister visiting Pakistan on such a short notice. “Both premiers agreed to continue the peace process (between the two countries) and work together for the goal”, he said.
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Some opposition leaders in India said Modi’s diplomacy should move beyond grandstanding and focus on tangible outcomes. “The relationship between India and Pakistan is perhaps the most complex, convoluted and intricate relationship between two nuclear weapon states”.