Potential to reset diplomatic equation
Whenever the heads of two nuclear states meet, it becomes news and the incumbent Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a command over generating news, be it his clandestine conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif during Paris Summit or his reception of American president Barack Obama at the Republic Day celebrations of India in 2015. No one could expect that Mr Modi will visit Lahore on his way back to New Delhi from Kabul but he stunned everyone by landing at Lahore airport, from where he was taken to Jati Umra — the personal residence of his Pakistani counterpart. Both prime ministers inspected the guard of honour in Lahore in a very candid atmosphere as both were holding each other hands firmly at the red carpet. It is also important to note that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif visited Kabul just one day after Modi’s sojourn of Lahore.
Mr Narendra Modi received a warm welcome in Lahore as it took 12 years for an Indian Prime Minister to visit Pakistan and Nawaz Sharif himself received Modi at the air port. Modi was also accompanied by his Pakistani counterpart at the time of departure from Lahore which was unprecedented. The news of the visit came through the Indian PM’s twitter account when he tweeted from Kabul that he wanted to make a stopover Lahore to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He remained at Jati Umra for more than an hour and also cut the cake to mark the birthday of his Pakistani counterpart and congratulated him over his granddaughter’s wedding. He touched the feet of Nawaz Sharif’s mother with reverence and according to some news the former advised both the prime ministers to adopt a policy of reconciliation. The Indian prime minister once again used his twitter account after reaching New Delhi to thank Nawaz Sharif for his warm reception in Lahore and said that the latter had great respect for the former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The Pakistani prime minister demanded the implementation of United Nations resolution on Kashmir in his address to the United Nations General Assembly in September last year
The Pakistani prime minister demanded the implementation of United Nations resolution on Kashmir in his address to the United Nations General Assembly in September last year and Pakistan also presented a dossier of India’s involvement in the restive province of Baluchistan. Then, both the heads of nuclear states met on the sidelines of climate summit in Paris just for two minutes and the relations between the two countries witnessed a significant thaw in succeeding months. The national security advisers of both countries met in Bangkok and the external affairs minister of India, Sushma Swaraj, participated in the Heart of Asia Conference in Islamabad. Our Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said after the Nawaz-Modi meeting that the Indian premier himself requested to pay a “goodwill visit” and Pakistan readily accepted his wish so that both countries could understand each others point of view. He was of the view that both the leaders have decided that peace talks should continue. It was decided in the meeting that foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will hold a meeting in mid January.
Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the centre for research and security studies, told DNA that only a few people had prior knowledge of Modi’s visit. He said that our national security advisor Nasir Janjua and advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz were absent, which shows that even the foreign office was not aware of this visit. He was of the view that our foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry was playing golf a few hours before the arrival of Modi. When asked if there was any foreign pressure over India to play this move, he replied that India does not formulate its foreign policy under the pressure of anyone. He added that Modi played this card according to India’s national interest.
The meeting of Pak-India’s premiers always takes centre stage, be it the cricket diplomacy of Zia-ul-Haq, Vajpayee’s bus journey to Lahore, Musharraf’s handshake with Vajpayee during a SAARC Summit or the Modi-Nawaz talk in Paris. Similarly, Modi’s recent visit to Lahore also grabbed the attention of every one.
It is very difficult for the incumbent Indian premier to be a representative of Hindu extremists and of the corporate sector at the same time, as the former demand harsh relations with Pakistan while the letter favours normalisation
It is very difficult for the incumbent Indian premier to be a representative of Hindu extremists and of the corporate sector at the same time, as the former demand harsh relations with Pakistan while the letter favours normalisation. Modi has a strong vote bank in both the communities and therefore he tries to appease both of them at the same time. One can say that his recent visit of Lahore was business and trade oriented as the steel tycoon of India Mr Jindal was also present in the city and he enjoys good relations with the Sharif family. It can be said that the personal interests of both the leaders dictated the Indo-Pak agenda this time.
Modi plays his foreign policy cards very smartly as he invited the Chinese premier to his hometown of Gujrat, his remarkable reception of Mr Obama at the Republic Day celebration of India and this time a sojourn to Lahore. His recent visit to Lahore was marked as a ‘diplomatic coup’ by some circles and it would have a long lasted impact over Indo-Pak relations.