26.12.15

Moscow-Kabul-Lahore-Delhi



In a Christmas surprise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a dramatic visit to Lahore to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif, boosting the recent turnaround in ties with Pakistan.
Modi stunned one and all with a tweet, hours before his departure from Kabul in the afternoon, that he was going to “drop by“ in Lahore for a meeting with Sharif. The Pakistani PM was in Lahore for his granddaughter's (Maryam Nawaz's daughter Mehrunisa's) wedding.
Birthday diplomacy is how many chose to describe Modi's yet another “impromptu“ meeting with Sharif -after Paris -as December 25 also marks the birth anniversaries of Pakistan's Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Sharif himself.
Modi is the first Indian PM to set foot in Pakistan since January 2004 when Vajpayee visited Islamabad for the 12th Saarc summit. That visit resulted in the first-ever commitment by Pakistan to prevent its territory from being used for terrorism. It is again Pakistan's assurances on terrorism, more specifically on the Mumbai trial, which has been cited by India to resume dialogue.
Modi was received at Lahore airport by Sharif. The two leaders hugged warmly before they walked hand in hand on the red carpet laid out for Modi. In a first, the two leaders took a Pakistani military chopper to Sharif 's Raiwind home on the outskirts of Lahore.
After his arrival in India, Modi tweeted that he was personally touched by Sharif 's gesture of receiving and seeing him off at the airport. He said he also found Sharif 's affection for Vajpayee touching.In another tweet, he said he had spent a warm evening at Sharif 's home and that Sharif 's birthday and his granddaughter's wedding had made it a double celebration.
Mehrunisa's mother Maryam is believed to be Sharif 's successor in politics. Modi gifted an Indian dress to Mehrunisa as he met Sharif 's family members, including his wife Kulsoom, before he sat down for a more formal hour-long meeting with the PM. Modi also gifted a shawl to Kulsoom.
Sharif 's palatial palace at Raiwind was decorated with lights of different shades and colours for the twin events of his birthday and granddaughter Mehrunnisa's wedding.
Pakistan described it as a goodwill visit while the foreign ministry spokesperson said Modi was “infusing a positive spirit in the neighbourhood“. While Modi was accompanied by NSA Ajit Doval, foreign secretary S Jaishankar and other officials, Sharif had his foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhary by his side. Though there was not much of a discussion on any bilateral issue, Chaudhary said after the meeting that both leaders agreed that Jaishankar would travel to Islamabad to carry forward the dialogue process. Agency reports said the talks will be on January 16. The two sides decided to collectively work towards the common goal of fighting poverty and increase people to people contact in order to open new avenues for peace and mutual cooperation between the two neighbouring countries,” Chaudhary said. Leaders of Pakistan’s main opposition parties also welcomed Modi’s visit. Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party, said he had also invited the Indian PM to Pakistan during his recent visit to India. He said frequent meetings between the heads of the two states would have a positive impact on bilateral relations. “Improvement in Pakistan-India ties is inevitable for sustainable peace in the region,” Khan said. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, head of Pakistan Peoples Party, said the only solution to Pakistan-India issues was constant communication between the two countries. “We welcome PM Narendra Modi in Pakistan,” he said.


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