New Delhi: Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi, confirmed the Pakistan PMO again on today morning. Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, is also in favour of cultivating cordial ties with the new Indian government.
The Pakistan PMO telephoned the news channel and said that Sharif would arrive in India on Monday morning to attend Modi’s oath-taking ceremony. In reply to an e-mail from news channel on Friday night, the the Pakistan PMO had said the same thing.
Earlier, a report said the Pakistan Foreign Office has recommended that Sharif attend the ceremony. Leader of opposition in Pakistan’s National Assembly, Khurshid Ahmed Shah, has also urged Sharif to accept the invitation in the larger interest of the people of the two countries.
Other dignitaries who are arriving include: Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, and Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, Bangladesh Parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury – all from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam is also attending.
Modi, who is to be sworn-in in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday evening, would hold brief bilateral talks with each leader the following day. He would host a banquet for all the dignitaries on May 26 nights. This is the first time that the heads of SAARC nations are being invited for a swearing-in of an Indian PM.
Bureau Report
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