NEW DELHI : The idea of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Pakistan, that had been put on the backburner due to various factors in the dynamics of the relations between the two countries, mainly the delay in bringing the culprits of 26/11 to justice, has again been revived with Nawaz Sharif’s victory in the May 11 elections in Pakistan.
Mr Sharif, who would be becoming prime minister for a record third time, yesterday invited Dr Singh to his swearing-in ceremony.
The Pakistan Muslim League(N) leader, whose previous tenures have been marked by conciliatory measures towards India, had on Sunday already extended an invitation to Dr Singh to visit Pakistan when the Indian PM called him to congratulate him on his victory.
Dr Singh has his ancestral home in Gah village of Punjab province, and the leaders of the previous ruling Pakistan People’s
Party, Asif Zardari and Yousuf Raza Gilani, when they were President and prime ministers respectively had already extended an
invitation to Dr Singh to visit their country.
However, the visit, though in principle not ruled out by India was not given serious consideration in view of the prevailing atmosphere.
India’s view was that Pakistan should first address its main concern over terror before such a visit could happen.
Mr Sharif along with Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the architect of the Delhi-Lahore bus service. Though the Kargil aggression happened during his tenure, it is widely believed as a misadventure of Gen Pervez Musharraf, then chief of Pakistan Army, about which the Mr Sharif was not taken on board.
Dr Singh in his congratulatory message had expressed India’s desire to work with the new Government of Pakistan in charting a new course for the relationship between the two countries.
Mr Sharif, who is also from Pakistan’s Punjab province, where Dr Singh has his ancestral village had said people of both countries should forget the past and make a new beginning.
“Let me give the message in Punjabi…It has been 65 years since both countries became independent…After all, people of both countries have the same roots…Let us bury the past,” he said.
Though Dr Singh’s chances to attend the swearing-in ceremony were believed to be thin, his visit later sometime was not ruled out.
Anyway, a formal invitation for joining in the swearing-in ceremony was yet to come from Pakistan, and India’s response would come only after that.
The transfer of power from an elected government to an elected government has been welcomed by India, and since a democratic and stable Pakistan was its need too, the country would very much like to deepen its engagement with Mr Nawaz Sharif’s government. (AGENCIES)
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