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News: Indian PM Narendra Modi will visit Pakistan next year
-Dr. Abdul Ruff
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India and Pakistan have
been busy conducting active diplomatic exercises to reset their bilateral
policies. Pakistan long a back invited Indian PM Mod to visit as early as
possible and restart the ailing relationship. As the result of prolonged
diplomacy, Indian has agreed to send its PM to visit Pakistan early next year.
Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi will visit Pakistan next year, Indian External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj said in Islamabad here on December 09. Sushma Swaraj said she
would accompany Modi during his visit, Geo TV reported.
Modi will participate in
the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit, Swaraj
told the media.
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This will be the first
prime ministerial visit from India to Pakistan since Atal Bihari Vajpayee
visited the South Asian neighbour in January 2004 to attend that year's Saarc
summit.
Sushma
Swaraj's is the first ministerial visit from India to Pakistan since the visit
of then external affairs minister S.M. Krishna in 2012. Sushma Swaraj is in Islamabad
to participate in the Heart of Asia Conference on peace and stability in
Afghanistan.
At
the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in Ufa, Russia, in
July, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had invited Modi to attend the
Saarc summit next year which the latter had accepted.
After
the Ufa meeting, both the prime ministers directed their foreign secretaries to
initiate the process of renewing talks, including meetings between the national
security advisors of the two countries.
However,
NSA-level talks between Doval and then Pakistani NSA Sartaz Aziz scheduled in
New Delhi in August were cancelled after the Pakistan high commissioner in New
Delhi insisted on inviting Hurriyat leaders for a reception in honour of Aziz.
The
two prime ministers again had an impromptu meeting on the sidelines of the
Conference of Parties (CoP-21) climate summit in Paris on November 30.
Both
leaders were seen warmly shaking hands at the summit venue as world leaders
converged for the opening of the event. The two leaders then sat on the same
sofa and were seen engaging in an animated discussion.
Following
this, on December 6, National Security Advisors (NSAs) Ajit Doval of India and
Naseer Khan Janjua of Pakistan held a meeting in Bangkok which was also attended
by Foreign Secretaries S. Jaishankar and Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.
A
joint statement issued after the meeting said the two NSAs held discussions
"in a candid, cordial and constructive atmosphere". According to the
statement, the NSAs "were guided by the vision of the two leaders for a
peaceful, stable and prosperous South Asia. "Discussions covered peace and
security, terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir, and other issues including tranquility
along the LoC (Line of Control). "It was agreed to carry forward the constructive
engagement," said the statement.
The
LoC divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan. It is not clear if
they would resolve the Kashmir issue to further strengthen the bilateral
ties. Kashmir has been the flashpoint in the Indo-Pakistan
tensions.