LAHORE: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is not too happy at his reception in India during his visit there to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra Modi, say his party colleagues.

A senior PML-N member told Dawn on Thursday that Islamabad felt belittled when there was no joint press conference after the one-on-one meeting between the two prime ministers. Short of that Prime Minister Sharif's delegation was expecting a joint communiqué, but none was issued.

Instead New Delhi unilaterally released a press statement which did not carry Islamabad's stance. It had only a passing reference to Mr Sharif and didn't appropriately acknowledge the importance of his presence, the PML-N member said.

The abrupt and inadequate release by New Delhi, he claimed, forced Mr Sharif to hold a press conference of his own - where he read out a carefully-worded statement so that "whatever was achieved by the visit might not go waste".

The PML-N member said the government was now pinning hopes on secretary-level talks - agreed upon by Pakistan and India during Mr Sharif's visit -- for some breakthrough in improving relations with India.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2014