Innovative diplomacy: Modi’s rule-breaking stopover raises hopes

Indian PM, Nawaz agree on meeting of foreign secretaries on Jan 15

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE:

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke with diplomatic protocol to make a surprise stopover in Pakistan on Friday to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif, raising hopes that the two archrivals would bury their acrimonious past and take steps to reset their fractured relationship.

The visit — the first by an Indian leader in over a decade — was requested by Modi just hours before he was to leave Afghanistan for home. Premier Nawaz received him at the Allama Iqbal International Airport which was closed for all commercial flights.

Nawaz hugged Modi and the two left by helicopter for the Sharif family home in Jati Umra, Raiwind, on the edge of Lahore where the Indian leader was greeted by Nawaz’s sons. Eleven members of Modi’s delegation, who were issued a 72-hour visa, accompanied him. However, over 100 other members of the delegation stayed at the airport.

“So, you have finally come,” Nawaz told Modi, according to a Pakistani foreign ministry official who was at the meeting. “Yes, absolutely. I am here,” Modi replied.  Modi phoned Nawaz earlier in the day to wish him on his birthday and asked if he could make a stop in Pakistan on his way home, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry told reporters. “And the PM said to him, ‘Please come, you are our guest, come and have tea with me’,” he said.

It was Nawaz’s 66th birthday and the family home was festooned with lights for his granddaughter’s wedding on Saturday. Modi and Nawaz talked for about 90 minutes and shared a lunch-cum-dinner. A source said Nawaz’s mother also entered the hall where both premiers were holding the meeting along with his other family members. “Modi touched the feet of Nawaz’s mother,” he said.

A source present in the meeting said the two leaders “chatted like old friends” as they ate vegetarian food, with the Indian premier telling Nawaz, “Your sincerity is beyond doubt”.

They discussed the longstanding issues between their countries, Foreign Secretary Aizaz said. “Among the decisions taken was that ties between the two countries and people-to-people contacts would be strengthened so that the atmosphere can be created in which the peace process can move forward,” he told journalists soon after the Indian leader’s departure to New Delhi from the Lahore Airport.

The two prime ministers decided that the foreign secretaries of their countries would meet in mid-January in Islamabad to enhance the dialogue process, Aizaz added. “All issues being discussed in the composite dialogue process will be part of the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue between the both countries.”

The two leaders called for ‘innovative diplomacy’ to resolve the thorny issues between their countries, said a Prime Minister House official, who remained with Nawaz throughout Friday. They agreed that mutual cooperation would be enhanced in order to overcome poverty and strengthen ties on other regional matters, he added.

Modi took to the microblogging website Twitter to express his feelings. “Spent a warm evening with Sharif family at their family home. Nawaz Sahab’s birthday & granddaughter’s marriage made it a double celebration,” he said in one tweet.

“Am personally touched by Nawaz Sharif Sahab’s gesture of welcoming me at Lahore airport and coming to the airport when I left,” he said in another tweet. “Nawaz Sharif Sahab’s affection towards Atal [Bihari Vajpayee] Ji is very touching. He recalled their interactions & asked me to convey his regards to Atal ji.”

Premier’s top foreign policy aide Sartaj Aziz said all major political parties, including the PPP and PTI, have welcomed Modi’s visit which showed there was a consensus in Pakistan on fence-mending and people-to-people contacts between Pakistan and India.

A PML-N official said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was scheduled to visit India in January where he will meet top Indian leaders. He will be visiting India on the invitation of the custodian of the shrine of 14th century Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya. “There are chances that Premier Nawaz Sharif might visit India on a short surprise visit,” the PML-N leader told The Express Tribune, requesting not to be named.

Another PML-N leader said Indian steel tycoon Sajjan Jindal also happened to be in Lahore for Nawaz’s birthday. “Jindal might have played the role of a messenger for the ‘surprise’ meeting between the two prime ministers,” he said without giving details.

The visit, announced by Modi on Twitter, gave the appearance of being spontaneous, with Nawaz’s foreign affairs adviser not able to reach Lahore in time. However, a senior Pakistan official told AFP that security had been planned days in advance.

While Indian media suggested Modi was the driving force behind the visit, a Pakistan official said it was Islamabad’s idea to arrange a meeting ahead of formal diplomatic talks set for January. “The goal behind this meeting was to humanise the other side by arranging a visit involving close family members,” said the official.

A close aide to Modi said the visit was a spontaneous decision by the prime minister and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and that it should not be seen as a sudden shift in India’s position. “But yes, it’s a clear signal that active engagement can be done at a quick pace,” the aide said, declining to be identified.

“The Jati Umra meeting is continuation of a process the two leaders set in motion on November 30 at Paris where Prime Minister Modi had accepted his Pakistani counterpart’s two demands: inclusion of the foreign secretaries in the national security advisers’ meeting; and widening of the scope of talks beyond terrorism to bilateral issues,” the Prime Minister House official said.

The Paris meeting broke the ice as it was followed by ‘surprise talks’ between the NSAs and then Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Islamabad on December 9, he added.

Sources in the PML-N and federal government said Modi’s visit was a success of international players, particularly China and the United States, which were concerned about growing tensions between the two South Asian neighbours. Both Nawaz and Modi had given assurances to Washington and Beijing that they would make serious efforts to normalise relations between their countries, source said.

After Modi’s visit, Premier Nawaz has directed his foreign policy team to carefully craft the next move while dealing with India, sources close to him told The Express Tribune. Modi, through his spontaneous decision, has given an impression that his country is willing to reset troubled ties with Pakistan – and now it’s Pakistan’s turn to reciprocate.

Premier Nawaz wants to calculate his moves to make sure that if the dialogue falls apart the international players might not blame Pakistan, sources added.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2015.