Pakistan PM to attend inauguration of

India's new leader Narendra Modi

Nawaz Sharif, whose attendance at ceremony will be a first in history
of two states, will also hold bilateral meeting with Modi
Nawaz Sharif is also likely to invite Modi to visit Pakistan, an official said on Saturday.
Photograph: Damir Sagol!"euters
Jason Burke in Delhi#Saturday $% May $&'%
(he prime minister of Pakistan has accepted an invitation from Narendra Modi, the incoming
)ndian prime minister, to attend his inauguration on Monday in Delhi, raising hopes of a thaw
in relations *etween the two south +sian nations.
Nawaz Sharif, who won power in Pakistan last year for a third time, will also hold a *ilateral
meeting with Modi on the sidelines of the ceremony during his visit to the )ndian capital,
Mohyuddin ,ani, the oint secretary of the prime minister-s office, told "euters.
(he Pakistani premier-s attendance at the ceremony will *e a first in the history of the two
states, which *oth have nuclear arsenals and have fought four wars since gaining their
independence from .ritain in '/%0. "epeated *ids to improve relations have failed, though
there have *een incremental gains over the last decade.
(he Pakistani prime minister is also likely to invite Modi to visit Pakistan, an official said on
Saturday.
Spokesmen for Modi-s .haratiya 1anata party 2.1P3, which won a landslide victory in the
recent polls, welcomed Sharif-s decision.
4)t is very good news 5 (his will mark a start of a new relationship *etween )ndia and
Pakistan,4 said Prakash 1avadekar, a .1P spokesman.
+nalysts have hailed the invitation as a *old step to launch a policy of regional engagement.
4)t-s an important gesture 5 as the largest country in the region, )ndia should *e reaching out to
its neigh*ours. (his is a very accident#prone relationship, *ut very intimate too on another
level. ,e are cousins in a very real sense,4 said 6 "aa Mohan, one of )ndia-s most respected
foreign affairs analysts, last week.
(he invite posed a dilemma for Sharif, who leads the conservative pro#*usiness Pakistan
Muslim 7eague, as many in the country and elsewhere in the Muslim world see the 89#year#old
Modi as a hardline :indu nationalist who har*ours sectarian preudices.
Modi has *een accused of allowing, or even encouraging, mo* violence in the western )ndian
state in $&&$. +*out ',&&& people, mainly Muslims, were killed in rioting that followed an
arson attack on a train in which ;/ :indu pilgrims died. Modi, who had *een appointed
<uarat-s chief minister the year *efore, has denied any wrongdoing.
Modi has a *rimming foreign policy in#tray. "elations with the =S have deteriorated markedly
in recent years and, though commercial links with 6hina have grown, Delhi is deeply
concerned *y the e>pansion of 6hinese influence in the region.
(he 89#year#old will also have to manage relations with other neigh*ours, such as .angladesh-s
ruling +wami 7eague, which has traditionally *een close to )ndia-s 6ongress party. Sheikh
:asina, .angladesh-s prime minister, has said she cannot attend the ceremony due to a
commitment to travel to 1apan *ut is sending a representative.
"elations with Sri 7anka are also comple>, and contentious within )ndia. Maor politicians in
southern )ndia, where there is a su*stantial population with ethnic and religious links to
minority communities in Sri 7anka, reacted angrily after their president, Mahinda "aapaksa,
accepted Modi-s invitation.
)t is the relationship with Pakistan, however, that is *eing seen as the real test of Modi-s foreign
policy in the region.
(he .1P has long called for a tougher stance on Pakistan, *ut the huge victory in the election
also gives the new prime minister the political space to reach out to difficult neigh*ours in
ways his predecessor, Manmohan Singh, weakened *y corruption scandals and pu*lic
discontent, could not.
+fter his own election last year Sharif-s administration had also suggested that the )ndian prime
minister attend his inauguration, *ut Singh declined.
Sharif, a former *usinessman, has hailed Modi-s 4impressive victory4 and was the first overseas
leader to call and congratulate him *efore counting of votes had even ended.
(ari? +zeem, a governing party senator and close Sharif confidante, told the <uardian after the
invitation that although Pakistan-s prime minister was very keen on *uilding ties with )ndia,
there were others in government who were wary of moving too ?uickly to em*race Modi.
4(here are people o*viously who want to wait and see whether <uarat man turns into New
Delhi man,4 he said. 4(here is that fear and apprehension in some ?uarters.4
Sharif-s decisions is likely to add to tensions *etween the civilian government and Pakistan-s
powerful military. @>tremist leaders in Pakistan called on the government to refuse the
invitation last week. +nd Pakistan-s powerful army has resisted Sharif-s am*ition to see a
speedy normalisation of relations with )ndia, particularly the granting of 4most favoured
nation4 status to )ndia as a trade partner.
.efore the announcement the @>press (ri*une reported that army chief "aheel Sharif met the
prime minister-s powerful younger *rother, Sha*az Sharif, on Ariday and recommended sending
a high#powered delegation instead of the prime minister.
@arlier this month two )ndian ournalists were e>pelled from Pakistan, a move which worried
commentators. (he )ndian ministry of foreign affairs said the e>pulsions were regretta*le.
4@ach leader is trying to *reak free of his shackles B Modi needs to demonstrate he is not a
prisoner of his :indutva ideology, Nawaz that he is not completely tied down *y the military.
Nawaz-s decision, coming ust two weeks after his own esta*lishment e>pelled the only two
)ndian correspondents *ased in Pakistan, is especially *old,4 said Siddarth Caradaraan, of the
6entre for Pu*lic +ffairs and 6ritical (heory at New Delhi-s Shiv Nadar =niversity.
)n '///, during Sharif-s second term in power, +tal .ihari Capayee, )ndia-s last .1P prime
minister, rode a *us to 7ahore to sign a peace accord, raising the prospect of normalised ties.
(hree months later, however, the countries were at war again.
"elations warmed in the early part of the last decade *ut *roke down after Pakistan#*ased
militants launched attacks in Mum*ai in $&&D.
(ies improved slightly under Singh, *ut remain frosty. Distrust is mutual, and there are regular
skirmishes along the line of control in Eashmir.
Modi said during his campaign that talks could not *e held with Pakistan until all violence
stopped, and senior .1P officials have regularly reiterated that view. Modi, however, has
coupled his demand with a call for a mutual effort to tackle deprivation in the region.
4.om*s, guns and pistols have failed to do any good for the people of Pakistan 5 if )ndia or
Pakistan has to fight a war, it should *e a war on poverty, illiteracy and superstition,4 Modi said
last year in his first maor speech as a prime ministerial candidate.
+ziz +hmed Ehan, a retired diplomat who served as Pakistan-s high commissioner to Delhi,
last week descri*ed the invitation as 4really very shrewd4.
4Fn the one hand it-s a good gesture that should *e taken as a sign of peacemaking *y Modi,
*ut at the same time the *aggage that he carries makes it very difficult for the government.
(here is a widespread *elief in Pakistan that he was *ehind the massacres in <uarat.4
<eneral Pervez Musharraf, the former military ruler, was the last Pakistani head of state to visit
)ndia in $&&;.
+n official at Pakistan-s information ministry sounded a cautious tone.
4,e still have to gauge what Modi-s government-s stand is on the many issues that remain
unresolved *etween Pakistan and )ndia. (he inaugural speech will hopefully set the tone of
relations and we can take it from there,4 said the official, who re?uested anonymity as he was
not authorised to comment on the issue.