No Indian minister will attend Nawaz's oath taking: Salman Khurshid
Indian High Commissioner will be the only one to attend the ceremony, says Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid.
Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid. PHOTO: FILE
Contrary to expectations, no minister from the Indian government will be attending the oath taking ceremony of prime minister-elect Nawaz Sharif.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said: “Our High Commissioner (Sharat Sabharwal) was here. We talked this morning and he is going back to attend the swearing-in as other High Commissioners would.”
For the first time in the history of the two countries, the Indian Prime Minister’s special envoy Satinder Lambah, who enjoys a high degree of confidence with the Indian government and the PM personally, met Nawaz Sharif soon after the Pakistan elections, once it became clear that Sharif was going to become the next Prime Minister.
In the course of a foreign visit by the Indian Prime Minister, sources briefed reporters that India might have some political representation at the oath taking ceremony. However symbolic, this was expected to be India’s endorsement of a civilian government in Pakistan. It would have been the first time that an Indian minister would have attended the swearing in ceremony of a Pakistani Prime Minister.
However, there was apparently no appetite for risk taking. It is possible that India calculated that it would be a mistake to alienate the Pakistan Army and put all India’s political eggs in the Nawaz Sharif basket.
Speaking to reporters, Khurshid said it was a “local event and that there was no invitation from Pakistan for representation from India.
“As I understand, I think, it is a local event. Missions will all be represented. I am not sure if there are any invites for anybody to be coming. Certainly not to our knowledge and therefore there wasn’t any need to take decision on this.”
The minister also noted that there would “probably not be enough time between the formal election in the National Assembly and the actual swearing-in”.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said: “Our High Commissioner (Sharat Sabharwal) was here. We talked this morning and he is going back to attend the swearing-in as other High Commissioners would.”
For the first time in the history of the two countries, the Indian Prime Minister’s special envoy Satinder Lambah, who enjoys a high degree of confidence with the Indian government and the PM personally, met Nawaz Sharif soon after the Pakistan elections, once it became clear that Sharif was going to become the next Prime Minister.
In the course of a foreign visit by the Indian Prime Minister, sources briefed reporters that India might have some political representation at the oath taking ceremony. However symbolic, this was expected to be India’s endorsement of a civilian government in Pakistan. It would have been the first time that an Indian minister would have attended the swearing in ceremony of a Pakistani Prime Minister.
However, there was apparently no appetite for risk taking. It is possible that India calculated that it would be a mistake to alienate the Pakistan Army and put all India’s political eggs in the Nawaz Sharif basket.
Speaking to reporters, Khurshid said it was a “local event and that there was no invitation from Pakistan for representation from India.
“As I understand, I think, it is a local event. Missions will all be represented. I am not sure if there are any invites for anybody to be coming. Certainly not to our knowledge and therefore there wasn’t any need to take decision on this.”
The minister also noted that there would “probably not be enough time between the formal election in the National Assembly and the actual swearing-in”.