Hope for peace rekindled as Nawaz Sharif gets ready to meet Narendra Modi

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who will arrive in India to attend the swearing-in ceremony of India’s Prime Minister-designate on Monday morning is expected seek revival of Pakistan-India cricket ties when he meets Mr Modi on Tuesday for bilateral talks.

“Mr Sharif will discuss Kashmir, Sir Creek, Line of Control (LoC) situation, promotion of trade and all other issues when he meets Mr Modi on Tuesday for formal talks,” a Pakistan government official said. “The whole team of the PM is hopeful of a positive outcome from this visit. This meeting may be too brief to solve all issues but it will of course be a beginning,” the official said.

On Sunday, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi called on PM Nawaz Sharif and discussed with him cricket affairs, with special reference to Pak-India series before the PM’s visit to New Delhi.

If consented by both the governments, Pakistan-India will play six series from 2015 to 2023. Under the proposed plan, Pakistan will host India in four series. Some experts say the beginning of the new era in Indo-Pak relations this time is expected to set off by cricket series.

Though Mr Sharif’s inner circle is cautiously optimistic, many independent observers think of it as a calculated risk by a Pakistani premier, evenly poised to click or backfire as country’s powerful military establishment observes cautiously.

Many would argue Mr Sharif being a real chief executive of the country does not need approval of military quarters for such a foreign sojourn, but the Friday’s meeting between army chief General Raheel Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif — the PM’s younger brother — seemed to have taken place to discreetly gauge mood of the military establishment that still wields considerable power in decision making process, especially relations with India.

Such an exercise by Mr Sharif’s brother, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leaders think, is mandatory in the backdrop of mix baggage of Sharif-military relations of the last two decades. On his part, the Pakistani PM has not forgotten eventful months of year 1999 on the heels of tit-for-tat atomic test both the countries had conducted in the previous year.