Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s impromptu visit to Pakistan will have far-reaching implications for ties between New Delhi and Islamabad.
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Modi was touring Afghanistan on December 25 where he met President Ashraf Ghani and stated that Pakistan would play a key role in restoration of peace in the region. “We need bold steps, optimism, out-of-the-box ideas and, more importantly, leaders who are ready to take risks for the betterment of the relationship between India and Pakistan”, Waheed Ur Rehamn Para, political analyst to Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, told Firstpost.
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Briefing the media after the meeting at the Jati Umrah residence of the Sharifs, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said: “PM Modi’s visit to Lahore was not a planned one”.
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Both had notched up visits to 23 countries, but with the current visit to Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Modi has an edge.
“Prime Minister of Pakistan welcomed the initiative of the Prime Minister of India to visit Lahore”, the Foreign Office Spokesman said in a statement issued after the meeting.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif greeted him at an airport in Lahore throughout his short layover within the city while en path to New Delhi from Afghanistan.
He added that the Indian Prime Minister wanted to go down in history as a visionary despite facing domestic pressure.
She said the benefits of peace were enormous, but war had none other than destruction.
On Friday afternoon, Modi’s plane landed at Lahore airport after a morning visit with Afghan officials in Kabul.
Responding to a question, Khursheed Kasuri said the Indian Prime Minister was under global pressure to start the dialogue process with Pakistan.
Modi, who was attired in off white kurta, white pyjama and red waistcoat, extended birthday greetings to Sharif, who wore light blue shalwar kameez and dark blue waistcoat. “He has done something no other Indian prime minister ever did in the past”, Abid Wani, 48, said here. Chaudhry termed Modi’s visit a “gesture of good will” and hoped that it will help resolve all of their outstanding issues when the two sides resume talks in the near future.
Modi had left on Wednesday for a two-day visit to Russian Federation for the annual summit-level meeting during which the two countries signed 16 agreements, including those related to defence and nuclear production. People of Kashmir welcome any opportunity that bring India and Pakistan close. Change in the Indian stance were noticed when Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj attended a conference in Pakistan recently and announced the resumption of dialogue.
“Afghanistan will succeed only when terrorism no longer flows across the border, when nurseries and sanctuaries of terrorism are shut, and, their patrons are no longer in business”, Mr Modi said.
The Punjab Chief Minister and Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar were also present at the airport to receive the guest.
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The Indian leader, who sipped Kashmiri tea while meeting Sharif, also met the Pakistani leader’s mother. “And all of us in the region – India, Pakistan, Iran and others – must unite in trust and cooperation behind the common goal and in recognition of our common destiny”.
