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Indian prime minister makes surprise stopover in Pakistan Indian prime minister makes surprise stopover in Pakistan
(about 4 hours later)
The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has arrived in Pakistan in a surprise stopover to meet his counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, in what is the first visit by an Indian premier to the country in more than a decade. Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, made a surprise stopover in Pakistan on Friday to meet his counterpart, Nawaz Sharif – the first time an Indian premier has visited the rival nation in over a decade. The visit, requested by Modi just hours earlier before he flew back home from Afghanistan, raised hopes that stop-and-start negotiations between the nuclear-armed neighbours might finally make progress after three wars and more than 65 years of hostility.
Modi and Sharif resumed high-level contacts with a brief conversation at climate change talks in Paris last month, part of efforts to restart a peace dialogue plagued by militant attacks and distrust. Sharif hugged Modi after he landed at the airport in the eastern city of Lahore and the two left by helicopter for Sharif’s nearby family estate. “So, you have finally come,” Sharif told Modi, according to a Pakistani foreign ministry official who was at the meeting. “Yes, absolutely. I am here,” Modi said, according to the official.
Modi, who inaugurated a new parliament complex built with Indian help in the Afghan capital, Kabul, spoke to Sharif on Friday to wish him a happy 66th birthday.
Looking forward to meeting PM Nawaz Sharif in Lahore today afternoon, where I will drop by on my way back to Delhi.Looking forward to meeting PM Nawaz Sharif in Lahore today afternoon, where I will drop by on my way back to Delhi.
Mistrust between India and Pakistan runs deep, and in Afghanistan many believe that Islamabad sponsors the Taliban insurgency to weaken the Kabul government and limit the influence of India. Modi phoned Sharif earlier in the day to wish him a happy 66th birthday and asked if he could make a stop in Pakistan on his way home, Pakistan’s foreign secretary, Aizaz Chaudhry, told reporters. “And the PM said to him: ‘Please come, you are our guest, please come and have tea with me.’”
Pakistan rejects the accusation but it has struggled to turn around perceptions in Afghanistan, where social media users sent out a stream of glowing commentary on Modi’s visit, contrasting the parliament building with the destruction wrought by Taliban suicide bombers. It was Sharif’s 66th birthday, and the family home was festooned with lights for his granddaughter’s wedding on Saturday. Modi and Sharif talked for about 90 minutes and shared an early-evening meal before the Indian leader flew back home.
Nalin Kohli, a spokesman for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party, said India was ready to take two steps forward if Pakistan took one to improve ties between the countries, which have fought three wars since 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which both claim in full but rule in part. “Among the decisions taken was that ties between the two countries would be strengthened and also people-to-people contact would be strengthened so that the atmosphere can be created in which the peace process can move forward,” Chaudhry said.
A ceasefire along the “line of control” that serves as the border between Indian- and Pakistani-held Kashmir has largely held since 2003, but cross-border firing and minor skirmishes are fairly common, with each side routinely blaming the other.
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Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key separatist leader in the Indian portion of Kashmir, said: “It’s a welcome step. We hope that it is followed by a consistent policy of engagement to resolve the Kashmir dispute. India and Pakistan have to evolve a mechanism to involve the core party to the issue that is the Kashmiri people.” Modi was on his way home after a visit to Russia. He stopped off in the Afghan capital, Kabul, earlier on Friday, where he inaugurated a new parliament complex built with Indian help. The Lahore visit comes after India and Pakistan resumed high-level contact with a brief conversation between Sharif and Modi at climate change talks in Paris late last month, part of efforts to restart a peace dialogue plagued by militant attacks and longstanding distrust.
The opposition Congress party called Modi’s visit irresponsible and said nothing had changed to warrant warming of ties between the nuclear-armed rivals that only in August cancelled scheduled high-level talks after ceasefire violations across the border. “If the decision is not preposterous then it is utterly ridiculous,” Congress leader Manish Tewari said. A spokesman at Sharif’s office earlier said the two leaders were to discuss a range of bilateral issues, including the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, the most contentious issue dividing the nations. A close aide to Modi said the visit was a spontaneous decision by the prime minister and his national security adviser, Ajit Doval, and that it should not be seen as a sudden shift in India’s position. “But yes, it’s a clear signal that active engagement can be done at a quick pace,” the aide said, declining to be identified.
However, analysts viewed the visit as a potential turning point in Pakistani-Indian relations. “I think it is going to play a significant role in improving ties between the two South Asian arch-rivals,” said Amanullah Memon, a professor of international relations at Preston University in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Mistrust between India and Pakistan runs deep. Modi’s visit is the first by an Indian prime minister to Pakistan since the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed in the Indian city by militants trained in Pakistan. Scheduled high-level talks between the two were cancelled in August after ceasefire violations across the border.
Amitabh Matto, an Indian foreign policy expert, described Modi’s birthday diplomacy visit as a “very positive step”. He said: “Any step toward trying to stabilise and provide a new beginning to India-Pakistan ties is welcome and needs to be supported by all those who believe that India and Pakistan have a common destiny and it is in their interest to fight together their common problems, including terrorism and economic under-development.” The two countries were born out of British colonial India in 1947, divided into Hindu-majority India and Islamic Pakistan. Modi, a Hindu nationalist, came to power in 2014, and has authorised a more robust approach to Pakistan, giving security forces the licence to retaliate forcefully along their disputed border and demanding an end to insurgent attacks in Indian territory.
The Indian foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, went to Pakistan this month – the first such visit in three years – after Modi and Sharif’s meeting in Paris. In Afghanistan, many believe that Islamabad sponsors the Taliban insurgency to weaken the Kabul government and limit the influence of India. Pakistan rejects the accusation, but it has struggled to turn around perceptions in Afghanistan, where social media users sent out a stream of glowing commentary on Modi’s visit, contrasting the parliament building with the destruction wrought by Taliban suicide bombers.
Opening the parliament building in Kabul, Modi pledged India’s support for the Afghan government and urged regional powers including Pakistan to work together to foster peace. Nalin Kohli, a spokesman for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party, said in New Delhi that India was ready to take two steps forward if Pakistan took one to improve ties.
The building is the latest symbol of a longstanding diplomatic effort by New Delhi to cultivate links to Afghanistan.
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As well as the parliament building, India is also supplying three Russian-made Mi-35 helicopters to Afghanistan’s small air force, adding badly needed capacity to provide close air support to its hard-pressed security forces. The opposition Congress party called Modi’s visit irresponsible and said that nothing had happened to warrant warming of relations between the rivals. “If the decision is not preposterous, then it is utterly ridiculous,” Congress leader Manish Tewari said.
Without referring directly to Pakistan, India’s traditional rival in the region, Modi said that some had seen “sinister designs in our presence” in Afghanistan. Opening the parliament building in Kabul, Modi pledged India’s support for the Afghan government and urged regional powers, including Pakistan, to work together to foster peace. “We know that Afghanistan’s success will require the cooperation and support of each of its neighbours,” he said. “And all of us in the region – India, Pakistan, Iran and others – must unite in trust and cooperation behind the common purpose and in recognition of our common destiny.”
“India is here to contribute, not to compete; to lay the foundation of future, not light the flame of conflict,” he told lawmakers in Kabul, adding that Afghanistan could never “serve the designs of others”. As well as the parliament building, India is also supplying three Russian-made Mi-35 helicopters to Afghanistan’s small air force, adding badly needed capacity to provide close-air support to its hard-pressed security forces.
Modi said that regional support would be vital to bring peace and control terrorism.
“We know that Afghanistan’s success will require the cooperation and support of each of its neighbours,” he said. “And all of us in the region – India, Pakistan, Iran and others– must unite in trust and cooperation behind the common purpose and in recognition of our common destiny.”