Srinagar: Senior People’s Democratic Party ( PDP) politician and Government spokesperson Naeem Akhtar on Friday said that ‘unscheduled’ meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif is a “huge out of the box gift” to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“This is huge out of the box gift by the Prime Minister to the people of Jammu and Kashmir who have been looking forward to such an issue. We believe that this will relieve Jammu and Kashmir from the pain and agony that we have suffered from the last 70 years,” Akhtar told ANI.
“Nothing better could have been expected on an auspicious occasion like this. When the world has been driven by wars and discord; India has once again reasoned above every consideration and shown the way,” he added.
Akhtar also said that he firmly believes that this is the beginning of a sustained uninterruptable dialogues.
“It is a leap forward for establishing peace in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to Pakistan on Friday to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif, both reaffirming to resume high-level peace talks.
It was the first time an Indian Prime Minister visited Pakistan in more than 10 years.
Prime Minister Modi had earlier made the surprise announcement to visit Sharif on Twitter as he wound up his visit to Afghanistan with an address to the Afghan parliament.
“Looking forward to meeting PM Nawaz Sharif in Lahore today, where I will drop by on my way back to Delhi,” Prime Minister Modi said in a tweet.
Indian Air Force jumbo jet land in the late afternoon at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport where Prime Minister Sharif flanked by his cabinet ministers, received Prime Minister Modi.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, the top foreign ministry bureaucrat, later told a press conference that it was a “purely goodwill visit.” (ANI)