As expected, newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to honour his country’s commitment to stop terrorism emanating from its soil and speed up trial of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case.
On his part, Sharif said his Government was ready to discuss all issues in spirit of co-operation. Both the countries agreed that their respective Foreign Secretaries will meet soon to explore ways to improve relations between the two countries, he said.
Briefing the media on 45-minute talks between the two leaders, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh informed that Modi told Nawaz to abide by his commitment to prevent Pakistan territory from spreading terrorism in India. Modi also hoped that necessary steps will be taken to expedite the trial in Pakistan relating to Mumbai terror attacks case and ensure punishment to the guilty.
Asked whether Modi raised the issue of the presence of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Singh said many things — including terrorism — were discussed. “I don’t want to speak more on this.”
On whether Kashmir issue was discussed, the Foreign Secretary said the two Foreign Secretaries will be in touch to see the best way to move forward. The bilateral meeting was attended by newly appointed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the Foreign Secretary and their Pakistani counterparts.
On trade, she said the two leaders discussed the issue of non-discriminatory market access to be given by Pakistan and said the two countries are fully ready to resume normalisation of trade relations at the earliest. Modi said the two countries could move towards trade normalisation on the basis of the September, 2012 roadmap on political and economic relations.
When asked if the Composite Dialogue process would be resumed after the bilateral meeting between Modi and Sharif, she said the Foreign Secretaries will meet to find a way forward.
The Foreign Secretary said, “We want peaceful and friendly relations with Pakistan. However, for such relations to proceed, it is important that terror and violence is brought to an end.” Asked if India was satisfied with the discussions on the 26/11 issue, Singh said the meeting was very constructive and both sides wanted to understand the concerns of the other side.
Describing the meeting with Modi, who assumed office as Prime Minister on Tuesday, as “good and constructive”, before returning to Islamabad, Sharif said the two leaders agreed that their Foreign Secretaries would be meeting soon to review and carry forward the bilateral agenda in the spirit of Tuesday’s meeting.
“We agreed that our meeting in New Delhi should be a historic opportunity for both our countries. I pointed out that we were at the beginning of our respective tenures, with a clear mandate. This provides us the opportunity of meeting the hopes and aspirations of our peoples that we will succeed in turning a new page in our relations. The one and a half billion people of the two countries want us to focus on their well-being and welfare,” he said in a Press statement.
Incidentally, Sharif cancelled his pre-scheduled Press briefing for 2.30 pm and confined his interaction with media to a mere statement. Sharif’s statement came after Sujata Singh briefed the media about the outcome of Modi’s meeting with SAARC leaders — including Sharif.
Sharif said he also recalled his invitation to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to lahore in February 1999 and that he “intended to pick up the threads of the lahore Declaration, from where it had to be left off in October 1999.”
“I stressed to Prime Minister Modi that we have a common agenda of development and economic revival, which is not possible to achieve without peace and stability in the region. I urged that together, we should rid the region of instability and insecurity that has plagued us for decades.
“Consequently, it was important for us to work together for peace, progress and prosperity. Finally, I urged that we had to strive to change confrontation into cooperation. Engaging in accusations and counter-accusations would be counter-productive, I emphasised....After all, we owe it to our people to overcome the legacy of mistrust and misgivings,” the Pakistan Prime Minister said.
He said they agreed that this common objective could be facilitated by greater people-to-people exchanges, at all levels.
“Prime Minister Modi warmly reciprocated my sentiments and remarked that my visit to New Delhi was seen as a special gesture by the people of India. He stated that it was incumbent on both of us to work together, to achieve our common objectives for peace and development,” he said.