Why can’t we be like leaders in Europe, Modi asks Nawaz

Modi and Sharif firm about trying their best to maintain contact at the highest level

When PM Narendra Modi met Pakistan’s PM Nawaz Sharif on Friday, one of the first things he is said to have told his Pakistani host is: “Why can’t we be like leaders in Europe, who meet each other for casual get-togethers and chats?”

As Sharif nodded in agreement, the two expressed determination to not let adverse incidents disrupt such meetings, a source privy to the conversation between the two PMs told The Indian Express.

While the two leaders agreed that this could be easier said than done, sources said Modi and Sharif were firm about trying their best to maintain contact at the highest level.

Another matter on which both leaders agreed “in principle” was to keep the dialogue between National Security Advisers “rock solid” and “intact”. “The leaders decided that even in the worst-case scenarios, come what may, the NSAs must be in touch with each other,” sources told The Indian Express.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2015.