‘No contentious issues’ were discussed in Lahore meeting

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not have a one-on-one meeting during the latter’s brief surprise visit to Lahore on Friday and no particular and contentious issue was discussed between them, sources here say.
Instead the two elected leaders briefly discussed a guideline for their respective foreign secretaries who will have talks in Islamabad next month when India’s top diplomat will visit the Pakistani federal capital, Sharif was informed by Modi.
The two prime ministers also determined the date for the one-day meeting between their top diplomats, which will tentatively take place by January 15.
The surprise Modi visit to Lahore predominantly had social overtones and helped in developing a further personal rapport between the two leaders.
Diplomatic sources here say that Sharif received the call from his Indian counterpart just before midday on Friday.
Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhary, who was present during the engagements of Modi in Lahore, said in remarks published in The News daily here yesterday that it was a goodwill visit and one shouldn’t read beyond that.
“There was no agenda for the meeting since it wasn’t a structured visit but the two prime ministers emphasised the need for improving ties between the two countries and sorting out their differences,” he said.
Chaudhary disputed reports that Sharif had invited Modi to visit Lahore. “The call was made by Modi from Kabul to greet Sharif on his birthday and in the course of the conversation, Modi expressed the desire to visit him (on Friday). Sharif told him that he was in Lahore and not in Islamabad. On this, the Indian prime minister said that he could come to Lahore and that wish was greeted by Nawaz Sharif in his traditional manner,” Chaudhary informed.
When contacted, Federal Minister for Finance Senator Ishaq Dar said that the trip by Modi had been hailed by the saner elements in both countries.
He said that both the prime ministers fondly talked of former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who laid the foundation stone of the present Indian High Commission compound in Islamabad as the foreign minister of his country and was later the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) premier who visited Pakistan in 1999.
Sharif asked Modi to convey his good wishes and birthday greetings to Vajpayee as he shares with him the birthday on December 25. Modi told Sharif that as soon he lands in New Delhi he would convey to Vajpayee the sentiments and greetings.