This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pakistans-nawaz-sharif-to-attend-narendra-modis-swearing-in/2014/05/24/b7a317d6-e136-4596-b300-cc5c833e38a7_story.html?wprss=rss_world
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Pakistan’s Nawaz Sharif to attend Narendra Modi’s swearing-in | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Saturday he will attend Narendra Modi’s swearing-in as India’s prime minister on Monday, a historic first for the two often hostile neighbors. | ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Saturday he will attend Narendra Modi’s swearing-in as India’s prime minister on Monday, a historic first for the two often hostile neighbors. |
| Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Sharif will lead a high-level delegation to New Delhi to attend the event in India’s Rashtrapati Bhavan (President’s House) Monday evening, along with leaders from other South Asian countries, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Officials said it will be the first time a Pakistani leader has attended such a celebratory gathering in India. Sharif and Modi are also scheduled to meet face-to-face Tuesday morning. | Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said Sharif will lead a high-level delegation to New Delhi to attend the event in India’s Rashtrapati Bhavan (President’s House) Monday evening, along with leaders from other South Asian countries, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Officials said it will be the first time a Pakistani leader has attended such a celebratory gathering in India. Sharif and Modi are also scheduled to meet face-to-face Tuesday morning. |
| After a decisive win by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in the recent Indian parliamentary elections, Modi, a Hindu nationalist, surprised observers in both countries when he invited Sharif to attend his inauguration. Supporters hope his move will smooth the way for better relations between the two countries, who have been bitter rivals since Muslim-majority Pakistan was split off from India when the latter won its independence in 1947. | After a decisive win by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in the recent Indian parliamentary elections, Modi, a Hindu nationalist, surprised observers in both countries when he invited Sharif to attend his inauguration. Supporters hope his move will smooth the way for better relations between the two countries, who have been bitter rivals since Muslim-majority Pakistan was split off from India when the latter won its independence in 1947. |
| “For the next five years, BJP would rule India and we would have to deal with it,” Pakistan’s information minister, Sen. Pervaiz Rashid, told journalists in Lahore. “We want peace for our next generations, and that is why we want to engage India in dialogue. We want good neighborly relations with India." | “For the next five years, BJP would rule India and we would have to deal with it,” Pakistan’s information minister, Sen. Pervaiz Rashid, told journalists in Lahore. “We want peace for our next generations, and that is why we want to engage India in dialogue. We want good neighborly relations with India." |
| Nirmala Sitharaman, spokeswoman for Modi’s party in India, said that party officials were “happy” to hear of Sharif’s “good-will gesture.” | |
| Sharif, who began his third term as prime minister last June after years of exile in Saudi Arabia, has stressed in recent months that he hopes to improve ties with India. In September, Sharif briefly met with outgoing Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York during the United Nations General Assembly. Representatives for Sharif and Singh also discussed ways to bolster trade between their countries. | Sharif, who began his third term as prime minister last June after years of exile in Saudi Arabia, has stressed in recent months that he hopes to improve ties with India. In September, Sharif briefly met with outgoing Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York during the United Nations General Assembly. Representatives for Sharif and Singh also discussed ways to bolster trade between their countries. |
| “He is burning yet more political capital, and that is why I think this is incredibly courageous,” said Mosharraf Zaidi, an Islamabad-based political analyst who served as an adviser to Pakistan’s foreign secretary from 2011 to 2013. “He is a knee-deep in a series of domestic crises, so going makes it a lot harder for him to plow through opposition, but if he does, it could be transformational for Pakistan and the region.” | “He is burning yet more political capital, and that is why I think this is incredibly courageous,” said Mosharraf Zaidi, an Islamabad-based political analyst who served as an adviser to Pakistan’s foreign secretary from 2011 to 2013. “He is a knee-deep in a series of domestic crises, so going makes it a lot harder for him to plow through opposition, but if he does, it could be transformational for Pakistan and the region.” |
| Experts and diplomats in India say that the move signals a more muscular and visible foreign diplomacy from Modi, who has little formal foreign policy experience. He had served as chief minister of the western state of Gujarat since 2001, and he has long been criticized for failing to stop religious riots in his state in 2002 that left more than 1000 dead, many of them Muslims. | Experts and diplomats in India say that the move signals a more muscular and visible foreign diplomacy from Modi, who has little formal foreign policy experience. He had served as chief minister of the western state of Gujarat since 2001, and he has long been criticized for failing to stop religious riots in his state in 2002 that left more than 1000 dead, many of them Muslims. |
| On the campaign trail, he largely avoided anti-Muslim rhetoric, preferring to keep to his message of economic opportunity. He has often said he admires the legacy of India’s last prime minister from the BJP, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who during his 1998 to 2004 tenure worked to reach out to Pakistan and is famous for having taken a bus from Delhi to Lahore to foster good relations. Vajpayee was met at the border by Nawaz Sharif, who was also then the prime minister of Pakistan. | On the campaign trail, he largely avoided anti-Muslim rhetoric, preferring to keep to his message of economic opportunity. He has often said he admires the legacy of India’s last prime minister from the BJP, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who during his 1998 to 2004 tenure worked to reach out to Pakistan and is famous for having taken a bus from Delhi to Lahore to foster good relations. Vajpayee was met at the border by Nawaz Sharif, who was also then the prime minister of Pakistan. |
| But Modi has also said that the bloodshed between the two countries must stop before progress can be made. | But Modi has also said that the bloodshed between the two countries must stop before progress can be made. |
| “Do you think it is possible to have a discussion amidst the deafening noise of bomb blasts and gunshots?” Modi said in an interview on the television station Times Now earlier this month. “So to have a reasonable discussion, first the blasts and gunshots have to stop.” | “Do you think it is possible to have a discussion amidst the deafening noise of bomb blasts and gunshots?” Modi said in an interview on the television station Times Now earlier this month. “So to have a reasonable discussion, first the blasts and gunshots have to stop.” |
| Although India and Pakistan have not fought a major ground war since 1999, relations between the two, particularly along their disputed border in Kashmir, remain tense. Starting last summer and continuing throughout the fall, the two armies repeatedly lobbed rockets across the border in what military leaders in both countries called the worst border violence since a 2003 cease-fire. | Although India and Pakistan have not fought a major ground war since 1999, relations between the two, particularly along their disputed border in Kashmir, remain tense. Starting last summer and continuing throughout the fall, the two armies repeatedly lobbed rockets across the border in what military leaders in both countries called the worst border violence since a 2003 cease-fire. |
| “I hope that this will mark a new beginning in ties between our two countries,” Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, wrote on Twitter Saturday. “The people of J&K will be watching closely.” | “I hope that this will mark a new beginning in ties between our two countries,” Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, wrote on Twitter Saturday. “The people of J&K will be watching closely.” |
| While most analysts say they think Sharif’s expressed intent of improving ties with India is sincere, they say he had to carefully consider the possible political ramifications of such a visit. Just hours after the Indian government said it had invited Sharif, India’s consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, was attacked by four gunmen who were eventually killed by security forces. On Friday, a spokesman from India’s Ministry of External Affairs cautioned against concluding that the events were linked, saying the investigation had just begun, but opposition politicians in India took note. | While most analysts say they think Sharif’s expressed intent of improving ties with India is sincere, they say he had to carefully consider the possible political ramifications of such a visit. Just hours after the Indian government said it had invited Sharif, India’s consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, was attacked by four gunmen who were eventually killed by security forces. On Friday, a spokesman from India’s Ministry of External Affairs cautioned against concluding that the events were linked, saying the investigation had just begun, but opposition politicians in India took note. |
| Within hours of the announcement, opposition to Sharif’s visit was building in Pakistan as well. | Within hours of the announcement, opposition to Sharif’s visit was building in Pakistan as well. |
| Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the leader of the anti-India Jamaat-ud-Dawa, whom many believe was the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, told reporters Modi’s decisive victory should serve as a warning to Pakistanis that India is “not a secular country.” | Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the leader of the anti-India Jamaat-ud-Dawa, whom many believe was the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, told reporters Modi’s decisive victory should serve as a warning to Pakistanis that India is “not a secular country.” |
| “The new Indian prime minister holds extremist views and we can’t ignore this fact,” Saeed said, according to GEO-TV. “Sharif must review his decision to attend.” | “The new Indian prime minister holds extremist views and we can’t ignore this fact,” Saeed said, according to GEO-TV. “Sharif must review his decision to attend.” |
| Javed Ashraf Qazi, a former chief of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, also questioned Sharif’s plans. | Javed Ashraf Qazi, a former chief of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, also questioned Sharif’s plans. |
| “Mr. Modi has so far been hostile to Pakistan. Look at his election campaign and his speeches,” Qazi said in an interview. “He has not come up with any positive gesture. I don't understand why then our prime minister is in a rush to go there. What good would it bring to Pakistan, to its people?” | “Mr. Modi has so far been hostile to Pakistan. Look at his election campaign and his speeches,” Qazi said in an interview. “He has not come up with any positive gesture. I don't understand why then our prime minister is in a rush to go there. What good would it bring to Pakistan, to its people?” |
| Gowen reported from New Delhi, along with Jalees Andrabi. Shaiq Hussain contributed from Islamabad. | Gowen reported from New Delhi, along with Jalees Andrabi. Shaiq Hussain contributed from Islamabad. |