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ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister’s Office released to the media on Wednesday a letter Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had written to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi vowing to work with him for the “benefit of both nations”.
The copy of the letter shared with the media does not carry the date of the correspondence and simply mentions the month “June 2014”.
Indian diplomats confirmed that the letter released to the media now was dated June 2, 2014.
The move raised questions about the motive behind belatedly releasing the communication which was primarily about thanking his Indian host for hospitality during his visit to Delhi on May 26-27 (for Mr Modi’s swearing-in as Prime Minister).
The letter has been made public ahead of a meeting of the Committee on National Security likely to take place in a few days.
A source said the meeting to be attended by all three services chiefs and key members of the federal cabinet would discuss how to take the relationship with India forward.
Mr Sharif’s India visit was criticised in the country for neither raising the Kashmir issue nor insisting on resumption of talks under the original format of composite dialogue.
Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz had later told the media that the government was open to restructuring the dialogue format.
There were also reports in the media that Mr Sharif himself was also not happy with the visit because there was no joint communiqué or a joint media conference with Mr Modi.
In his letter to the Indian prime minister, Mr Sharif said he had returned from India “much satisfied with meaningful exchange of thoughts on matters of bilateral and regional interest”.
He said he looked forward to working with Mr Modi “in harmony to resolve all unsettled matters for the benefit of both nations”.
The prime minister expressed the hope that their “endeavours will lay foundation for a much brighter future”. He stressed the need for economic cooperation between the two countries.
Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2014
