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WithPakistanPrime MinisterNawaz Sharifaccepting Prime Minister-designateNarendra Modi’s invitation to attend his swearing-in ceremony on Monday, expectations are running high that this could herald the beginnings of a new chapter in the relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Incidentally, this will be PM Sharif’s first ever official visit toIndiaas the head of the government. He has never paid a visit here even during his previous two tenures as Pakistan PM. As a result, this meeting between the leaders will be historical in more ways than one.
During the visit Sharif will be accompanied by Sartaj Aziz who is his adviser on national security and foreign affairs, foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry; and special assistant to the PM on foreign affairs, Tariq Fatemi, the Pakistan High Commission said here today in a statement.
The Pakistan delegation is expected to arrive a few hours before the swearing-in ceremony begins on Monday, May 26. However, all eyes will be on the bilateral meeting that is scheduled to take place the following day in the morning at Hyderabad House.
Modi will be meeting all the SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation) leaders for about 20-30 minutes. As per the protocol, Modi will first meet the Presidents followed by the Prime Ministers.
Reliable sources have told Business Standard that the two leaders might take up some of the key issues pertaining to the Kashmir dispute, cross-border terrorism and the establishment of a stable investment and trading relations. The BJP has categorically stated that it has zero tolerance for terrorism.
But the most important issue that both sides will ponder upon is what will be the roadmap post 2014 when international troops start pulling out from Afghanistan.
Modi, on the other hand, will be accompanied by the newly appointed minister of external affairs and foreign secretary Sujatha Singh. If a new Foreign Minister is named, this will be his first diplomatic engagement.
“The meeting will be seen as an opportunity to create a good environment, good starting point and making progress in the peace dialogue. This will be a good occasion to pick up from where the things were left and proceed thereon. So, obviously hopes are high,” diplomatic sources indicated.
Sharif will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday. However, sources said, others such as Aziz and Fatemi might hold separate meetings with some of the key BJP leaders such as Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad.
“We have invited all these leaders to celebrate Indian democracy and to uphold its principles in the global platform. This should not be seen as an effort to hold bilateral meetings,” Jaitley stated in his Facebook post.
Interestingly enough on the question of Pakistan, the BJP has changed colour quicker than a chameleon.
During his election campaign, Modi had accused the UPA government of being pusillanimous in dealing with Pakistan. Modi had promised that he wouldn’t allow Pakistan to get away with such acts as beheading Indian soldiers. He even went on to say that there could be no talk with Pakistan as long as bombs blast and guns blaze.
But that changed in one swift move which most observers now acknowledged as statesmanlike with Modi requesting the External Affairs Ministry to invite the leaders of all Saarc countries and Mauritius to the swearing in ceremony.
The larger Sangh Parivar, particularly the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) isn’t entirely pleased but has kept its aversion to a BJP Prime Minister inviting a Pakistani PM to the swearing in of his government, muted.
The more right wing elements of the Sangh Parivar have fallen in line after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) “blessed” the proposal. The RSS defended the invite to Pakistan. It likened it to Hindu culture where a neighbour, however bad mutual relations might be, is invited to a wedding.
VHP chief Ashok Singhal hasn't been as vociferous on some of the core agenda, including about talks with Pakistan. The BJP is also aware that thebilateral talkscould touch a raw nerve in its core constituency, and has taken to insisting that Modi's bilateral talks Sharif and others would be more in the spirit of familiarisation meetings than something with any substantive diplomatic agenda.
There is also an understanding within the BJP that the new government is likely to face tough challenges on the Kashmir front. The assessment emerging from Modi’s meetings with Home Secretary Anil Biswas and others like former Director of Intelligence Bureau Ajit Kumar Doval, is that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan would have a bearing on Kashmir. India’s security apparatus believes infiltration would increase into Kashmir in the coming months.
The United States needs both India and Pakistan to keep temperature down at their border for Islamabad to station more of its troops on the Afghan-Pakistan border to help the Americans. Sources say Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s having already spoken to Modi twice was an indication of how crucial the next few months are for Nawaz Sharif, Modi and Karzai himself. Karzai first called to congratulate Modi after the election results as also after the attack on the Indian Consulate in Herat.
On the other hand, the Congress Party has reacted to the development quite cautiously.
After Sharif’s attendance got confirmed, the Congress hoped that issues like that of Hafiz Saeed would be raised during the meeting.
“They (BJP) have also periodically been raising the issue of the return of Dawood Ibrahim, who allegedly is being sheltered by the establishment in Pakistan. So, we hope that BJP remains true to the position it has taken over the past ten years and raises these issues with the Prime Minister of Pakistan when he comes to India," said Congress spokesperson and former Union minister Manish Tewari.
Significantly, Hafiz Saeed tweeted “Meanwhile, Instead of appeasing India, Nawaz Sharif should represent nation's aspiration by reviewing his decision to visit Modi's oathtaking ceremony.”
Congress’ Shashi Tharoor had tongue in cheek tweeted a few days back, “If Nawaz Sharif does accept the invitation, let's hope @narendramodi will serve him chicken biriyani!”
Meanwhil UPA alliance partner National Conference welcomed Sharif’s visit. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted "Very glad to hear Pak PM has accepted invite, shows that he can prevail over forces inimical to good relations with India," he said.
Following that up with another tweet he observed “…the only photo op that will matter now will be the Modi-Sharif handshake."
India, Pakistan off to a new beginning? | Business Standard
Incidentally, this will be PM Sharif’s first ever official visit toIndiaas the head of the government. He has never paid a visit here even during his previous two tenures as Pakistan PM. As a result, this meeting between the leaders will be historical in more ways than one.
During the visit Sharif will be accompanied by Sartaj Aziz who is his adviser on national security and foreign affairs, foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry; and special assistant to the PM on foreign affairs, Tariq Fatemi, the Pakistan High Commission said here today in a statement.
The Pakistan delegation is expected to arrive a few hours before the swearing-in ceremony begins on Monday, May 26. However, all eyes will be on the bilateral meeting that is scheduled to take place the following day in the morning at Hyderabad House.
Modi will be meeting all the SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation) leaders for about 20-30 minutes. As per the protocol, Modi will first meet the Presidents followed by the Prime Ministers.
Reliable sources have told Business Standard that the two leaders might take up some of the key issues pertaining to the Kashmir dispute, cross-border terrorism and the establishment of a stable investment and trading relations. The BJP has categorically stated that it has zero tolerance for terrorism.
But the most important issue that both sides will ponder upon is what will be the roadmap post 2014 when international troops start pulling out from Afghanistan.
Modi, on the other hand, will be accompanied by the newly appointed minister of external affairs and foreign secretary Sujatha Singh. If a new Foreign Minister is named, this will be his first diplomatic engagement.
“The meeting will be seen as an opportunity to create a good environment, good starting point and making progress in the peace dialogue. This will be a good occasion to pick up from where the things were left and proceed thereon. So, obviously hopes are high,” diplomatic sources indicated.
Sharif will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday. However, sources said, others such as Aziz and Fatemi might hold separate meetings with some of the key BJP leaders such as Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad.
“We have invited all these leaders to celebrate Indian democracy and to uphold its principles in the global platform. This should not be seen as an effort to hold bilateral meetings,” Jaitley stated in his Facebook post.
Interestingly enough on the question of Pakistan, the BJP has changed colour quicker than a chameleon.
During his election campaign, Modi had accused the UPA government of being pusillanimous in dealing with Pakistan. Modi had promised that he wouldn’t allow Pakistan to get away with such acts as beheading Indian soldiers. He even went on to say that there could be no talk with Pakistan as long as bombs blast and guns blaze.
But that changed in one swift move which most observers now acknowledged as statesmanlike with Modi requesting the External Affairs Ministry to invite the leaders of all Saarc countries and Mauritius to the swearing in ceremony.
The larger Sangh Parivar, particularly the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) isn’t entirely pleased but has kept its aversion to a BJP Prime Minister inviting a Pakistani PM to the swearing in of his government, muted.
The more right wing elements of the Sangh Parivar have fallen in line after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) “blessed” the proposal. The RSS defended the invite to Pakistan. It likened it to Hindu culture where a neighbour, however bad mutual relations might be, is invited to a wedding.
VHP chief Ashok Singhal hasn't been as vociferous on some of the core agenda, including about talks with Pakistan. The BJP is also aware that thebilateral talkscould touch a raw nerve in its core constituency, and has taken to insisting that Modi's bilateral talks Sharif and others would be more in the spirit of familiarisation meetings than something with any substantive diplomatic agenda.
There is also an understanding within the BJP that the new government is likely to face tough challenges on the Kashmir front. The assessment emerging from Modi’s meetings with Home Secretary Anil Biswas and others like former Director of Intelligence Bureau Ajit Kumar Doval, is that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan would have a bearing on Kashmir. India’s security apparatus believes infiltration would increase into Kashmir in the coming months.
The United States needs both India and Pakistan to keep temperature down at their border for Islamabad to station more of its troops on the Afghan-Pakistan border to help the Americans. Sources say Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s having already spoken to Modi twice was an indication of how crucial the next few months are for Nawaz Sharif, Modi and Karzai himself. Karzai first called to congratulate Modi after the election results as also after the attack on the Indian Consulate in Herat.
On the other hand, the Congress Party has reacted to the development quite cautiously.
After Sharif’s attendance got confirmed, the Congress hoped that issues like that of Hafiz Saeed would be raised during the meeting.
“They (BJP) have also periodically been raising the issue of the return of Dawood Ibrahim, who allegedly is being sheltered by the establishment in Pakistan. So, we hope that BJP remains true to the position it has taken over the past ten years and raises these issues with the Prime Minister of Pakistan when he comes to India," said Congress spokesperson and former Union minister Manish Tewari.
Significantly, Hafiz Saeed tweeted “Meanwhile, Instead of appeasing India, Nawaz Sharif should represent nation's aspiration by reviewing his decision to visit Modi's oathtaking ceremony.”
Congress’ Shashi Tharoor had tongue in cheek tweeted a few days back, “If Nawaz Sharif does accept the invitation, let's hope @narendramodi will serve him chicken biriyani!”
Meanwhil UPA alliance partner National Conference welcomed Sharif’s visit. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted "Very glad to hear Pak PM has accepted invite, shows that he can prevail over forces inimical to good relations with India," he said.
Following that up with another tweet he observed “…the only photo op that will matter now will be the Modi-Sharif handshake."
India, Pakistan off to a new beginning? | Business Standard
