NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif kept India guessing on Thursday on whether he would attend the swearing-in ceremony of Indian premier-designate Narendra Modi on Monday or send a high-ranking representative.

The TV discussions centred around a view among Delhi’s cluster of Pakistan experts that it was Rawalpindi rather than Islamabad that would take the final call on Mr Modi’s invitation to Mr Sharif.

A different explanation for the delayed response being offered was that Pakistan would be keen to insert a meaningful agenda during the usually accommodated bilateral talks even if the occasion has a multi-lateral flavour. If Mr Sharif does not show up, it could rob the important occasion for Mr Modi of its sheen.

Press Trust of India quoted sources at the Pakistan foreign ministry as saying on Thursday night that a decision was likely to be taken on Friday.

While Mr Modi’s spin-doctors want the Monday function to be historic replete with the attendance of several other heads of state, the Congress party wondered if the Bharatiya Janata Party would have found it agreeable had Rahul Gandhi sent out the invitations.

BJP says Modi wants to follow in the footsteps of A.B. Vajpayee

Mr Sharif has never been to India on an official tour. If he attends the function, the move may prove pivotal for efforts to improve the relationship between the two countries, analysts said.

BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said Mr Modi wants to follow in the footsteps of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by reaching out to the neighbours. “Atalji had once said that we can choose our friends, but not our neighbours, and Narendra Modi says he wants to work like Atalji. He is a far thinking leader, and besides, our relationship has not been good with the other nations in the last 10 years,” said Mr Javadekar.

After his own election last year, Mr Sharif’s administration had suggested inviting the Indian PM to his launching ceremony, but Mr Modi’s predecessor Manmohan Singh declined.

The invitation has been widely reported in the foreign media and widely acclaimed at home, especially in Kashmir, which is the biggest casualty of the strained relations between India and Pakistan, local reports said. “The invite poses a dilemma for Sharif, who leads the conservative pro-business Pakistan Muslim League, as many in the country and elsewhere in the Muslim world see the 63-year-old Modi as a hardline Hindu nationalist who harbours sectarian prejudices,” The Hindustan Times said.

The Guardian quoted Aziz Ahmed Khan, who served as Pakistan’s high commissioner to Delhi, as saying that Mr Modi had been “really very shrewd” with an invitation that the government will find hard to respond to.

Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai and Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa have confirmed they will attend, Maldives president Abdulla Yameen could attend too. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina is likely to send the country’s Speaker, Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury. Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has indicated he may come while Bhutan will be represented by its PM Tshering Tobgay. Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam has confirmed his participation.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2014