Handshake breaks ice between Modi, Sharif; will Indo-Pak ties improve after months of logjam?
New Delhi: In a major breakthrough in India-Pakistan ties, indicative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi following former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee’s policy of engagement with Islamabad despite tensions, the two countries on Friday decided to revive the stalled dialogue process.
They will “discuss all outstanding issues”, “cooperate” to eliminate terrorism from South Asia, and find ways “to expedite the trial of the Mumbai attack case”.
The decisions were announced after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif at Ufa, Russia, as Mr Modi, in a major outreach, agreed to visit Pakistan next year for the 16th Saarc summit at the invitation of Mr Sharif.
Neighbourhood engagement. PM @narendramodi meets PM Nawaz Sharif on sidelines of SCO Summit pic.twitter.com/csMUUdECLI
— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) July 10, 2015Mr Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister in 12 years to travel to Pakistan after Mr Vajpayee’s visit in January 2004.
On Friday, Mr Modi and Mr Sharif “agreed that India and Pakistan have a collective responsibility to ensure peace and promote development”, and that “to do so, they are prepared to discuss all outstanding issues”.
The two PMs decided that their two national security advisers, Ajit Doval and Sartaj Aziz, will meet in New Delhi shortly to discuss “all issues connected to terrorism”.
The two sides also agreed on “early meetings” of the director-generals of the BSF and the Pakistan Rangers.
PM Narendra Modi meets PM Nawaz Sharif for a bilateral meeting in Ufa (Russia) https://t.co/LwTSZiB2Bo
— ANI (@ANI_news) July 10, 2015