ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will travel to New Delhi on Monday for a two-day visit to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Indian prime minister-designate Narendra Modi.
He was invited to the ceremony by Mr Modi on May 21.
The government expects that the prime minister’s “courtesy gesture” may lead to resumption of the peace dialogue between the two countries that has been stalled since early last year because of skirmishes along the Line of Control.
The prime minister consulted his top aides before deciding to attend the event. Although there was no public consultation with the military on the matter, it is widely believed that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif discussed the Indian invitation with Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif on behalf of the prime minister during their meeting on Friday.
“In response to the invitation to the oath-taking ceremony of prime minister-designate of India, Narendra Modi, the prime minister will be travelling to New Delhi on May 26,” a Foreign Office statement said.
He will be accompanied by Sartaj Aziz, Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry and his personal staff.
Khursheed Shah, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, welcomed the prime minister’s decision, saying it would help rebuild ties. Hardline positions, he added, would serve neither country’s cause.
Former president Asif Ali Zardari said it was a “politically correct and wise” decision.
However, Jamaatud Dawa leader Abdur Rehman Makki said that Kashmiris had boycotted the Indian elections and “now that Nawaz Sharif is going to attend the inauguration of the prime minister of the government formed as a result of those elections, how is he going to answer them”.
Besides attending the oath-taking ceremony and a reception Mr Modi will host for the visiting regional leaders, Mr Sharif would meet Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and the new prime minister on Tuesday.
NO EXPECTATIONS: However, expectations about the coming Sharif-Modi meeting are not very high.
“It is primarily to break the ice and for the two leaders to establish rapport and reaffirm their commitment to fostering peace between Pakistan and India,” a Foreign Office official said.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman too tried to play down the expectations. She told media persons in Delhi that Prime Minister Sharif’s meeting with Mr Modi would be a “courtesy call” that could not be described as “bilateral talks” in the strictest sense because it would not have any set agenda.
