Resuming talks: Indian PM accepts invitation

Shahbaz delivers message from PM Nawaz; set to watch Kabbadi final in Ludhiana.

NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD:

India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has accepted a formal invitation from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to visit Pakistan, the Press Trust of India reported on Thursday.

The invitation on Premier Nawaz’s behalf was presented by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif when he called on the Indian premier on Thursday.

Shahbaz underscored the importance of resuming the Indo-Pak dialogue process and peaceful resolution of all issues. He is in India for the World Kabaddi championship in Ludhiana tomorrow.



Shahbaz also delivered a message of goodwill from his elder brother and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while emphasising, “Pakistan’s desire to forge friendly and cooperative relations with India, in the interest of peace and prosperity of the people of the two countries and of the region,” a Pakistan High Commission release said.

Shahbaz Sharif is the No.2 in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the meeting assumes significance given the disappointment expressed by Singh over the progress on agreed outcome of the meeting between him and his Pakistani counterpart in New York in September.

Shahbaz was accompanied by Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi, Minister of State for Commerce Khurram Dastagir Khan and Provincial Minister for Education Rana Mashood Khan and High Commissioner Salman Bashir during the meeting which was “cordial, constructive and forward looking”, the High Commission said.

Shahbaz, who has launched a Metro Bus Service project in Lahore, also visited the Patel Chowk Metro station. After taking the metro ride, Shahbaz said he had a great time and said Delhi Metro was of great benefit to travellers.



Visits Jatti Umra village

Shahbaz is scheduled to visit Jatti Umra, the ancestral village of the Sharif family. A nondescript village in Punjab’s border Tarn Taran district is getting a facelift to welcome its VIP visitor this Sunday.

He will be the highest ranked Pakistani leader and Sharif family member to visit the family’s ancestral village, located 35 km from the Sikh holy city of Amritsar and about 50 km from the India-Pakistan border.

The village, comprising mostly Sikh families now, celebrated the election of Nawaz Sharif as Pakistan’s prime minister in May this year by distributing sweets and dancing bhangra to dhol beats.

The Sharif family migrated from Jatti Umra before partition in 1947.

Punjab’s Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, who is supervising arrangements for Shahbaz Sharif’s visit to the village, said the visit will help better ties between both countries.

“The visit will help bring east and west Punjab and their people closer. Both Punjabs can benefit from trade and people-to-people ties,” Majithia said.

Foreign Office

Visit of Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif to New Delhi was part of Pakistan’s regular contact with India, Foreign Office Spokesman Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry told reporters during the weekly briefing.

“The present government wishes to improve relations with India. We hope that the bilateral dialogue process will resume soon and all issues between the two countries will be addressed with a view to promoting better relations between Pakistan and India,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2013.