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Nawaz Sharif Flaunts PM Modi’s Gift At Granddaughter’s Wedding
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise “goodwill” visit to Lahore for a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, on his way home from Moscow and Kabul, comes as a hopeful sign for Pak-India peace process.
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Making a statement in the Senate regarding a brief visit of the Indian PM to Pakistan on December 25, Aziz said that 72-hour temporary visas were issued to Modi’s entourage. In India, many noted that Nawaz Sharif is perhaps the wrong focus point for Modi’s outreach because, after all, in Pakistan, the real power rests with the chief of army staff, General Raheel Sharif (no relation to the prime minister). But his impromptu plan to visit Lahore sent the security into action, which managed Modi’s visit with aplomb. A source present in the meeting said the leaders of the nuclear-armed nations “chatted like old friends” as they ate vegetarian food, with the Indian premier telling Sharif, “Your sincerity is beyond doubt”.
He said the meeting of foreign secretaries was also confirmed in Modi-Nawaz meeting.
But ever since Vajpayee’s exit, the dialogue between India-Pakistan has seen various twists and turns.
Referring to the decision of the NDA government on the bullet train from Ahmedabad to Mumbai, he said that the country’s majority would not benefit in any way by the Rs. 1 lakh-crore 500-km project.
Congress leader Manish Tewari called it an “adventure” that would have “serious impact on national security” in the absence of any change in circumstances on the ground, while the Communist Party of India welcomed the visit saying it would take the dialogue process forward.
If the year-end turned out well for India-Pakistan relations, 2016 holds greater prospects.
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. He said both the prime ministers had five meetings.
“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.
“By striking breakthrough deals across Russian Federation and Afghanistan, Modi has cemented his ties with his allies, bring Pakistan in the mix with diplomatic ingenuity”. It was unclear, however, when Modi’s visit itself was planned. “The world can not move ahead without innovation”, the prime minister said in his monthly “Mann ki Baat” radio programme.
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Political leaders and analysts have described the meeting between Prime Ministers of Pakistan and India a positive development for peaceful resolution of all-out standing issues between the two countries. Within minutes, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted: “That’s like a statesman”.