Nawaz Sharif doesn’t mention Kashmir in talks with PM Narendra Modi

New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who travelled to India following the invitation extended by Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi to all Saarc leaders to attend his swearing-in, described his meeting with Mr Modi as being “good and constructive”.

Extending the olive branch, he expressed his government’s willingness to discuss “all issues” between the two nations “in a spirit of cooperation and sincerity.”

“We owe it to our people to overcome the legacy of mistrust and misgivings,” Mr Sharif said

In a reference to the “trust deficit” that has become the leitmotif of Indo-Pakistani ties, Mr Sharif said that he Mr Modi had agreed that enhanced people-to-people contacts would facilitate this common objective.

Asked if Kashmir had come up for discussion during the meeting, India’s foreign secretary Sujatha Singh merely said that the two foreign secretaries would be in touch to find a way forward.

She reiterated this when asked again if the peace dialogue would be resumed anytime soon.

Significantly, during his visit to India, Mr Sharif desisted from meeting the Kashmiri separatist leaders, a practice that has been followed in past visits by Pakistani leaders. This gesture has not gone unnoticed by New Delhi, which sees it as a positive signal given that such meetings in the past have always left it miffed with the Pakistani government.

Also, it was noted that there was no reference to Kashmir in Mr Sharif’s pre-departure statement or at any time publicly during this visit.
Mr Modi also told his Pakistani counterpart that it needed to abide by its commitment to prevent its territory from being used for terror attacks against India.