The 35-minute scheduled meeting between the two leaders here at the Hyderabad House, however continued for 50 minutes, reflecting a desire by both the sides to move forward. Prime Minister Sharif pointed that both the leaders were at the beginning of their respective tenures, with a clear mandate. "This provides us the opportunity of meeting the hopes and aspirations of our peoples that we will succeed in turning a new page in our relations."
He said over 1.5 billion people want us to focus on their welfare and well being. "I intended to pick up the threads of the Lahore Declaration, from where it had to be left off in October 1999," Sharif said. The Prime Minister said he told his Indian counterpart that they have a common agenda of development and economic revival which was not possible to achieve without peace and stability in the region.
"I urged that together, we should rid the region of instability and insecurity that has plagued us for decades." The Prime Minister said it was important for both the sides to work together for peace, progress and prosperity. "Finally I urged that we had to strive to change confrontation into co-operation. Engaging in accusations and counter-accusations would be counter-productive, I emphasised."
"My government, therefore, stands ready to discuss all issues between our two countries, in a spirit of co-operation and sincerity," Sharif said. He said the leaders of the two countries owe it to their people to overcome the legacy of mistrust and misgivings. "We agreed that this common objective could be facilitated by greater people-to-people exchanges, at all levels." He said Prime Minister Modi warmly reciprocated his sentiments and remarked that his visit to New Delhi was seen as a special gesture by the people of India.
"He [Modi] stated that it was incumbent on both of us to work together, to achieve our common objectives for peace and development." Prime Minister said he leaves this historic city with a strong sense that the leaders and the people of Pakistan and India share desire and mutual commitment to carry forward their relationship, for the larger good of their peoples.
Advisor to PM on National Security Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant to PM on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Secretary to the Prime Minister Javaid Aslam and Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit accompanied the Prime Minster as he met the newly elected Prime Minister of India at the Hyderabad House. Attired in a black suit and red tie, Prime Minister Sharif warmly shook hands with Narendra Modi who was attired in a beige Nehru jacket.
The leaders gave a big smile to the awaiting cameras, before being ushered in for the talks at the Deccan Suite. The Indian Prime Minister began his first day in office by meeting all the seven leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC). His Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj remained with him during his meetings. Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh later briefing the media said the talks were held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere and both the sides agreed that the foreign secretaries of the two countries will remain in touch and discuss the way forward.
She said both sides also agreed on early resumption of trade. Indian Foreign Secretary said the two countries need to move ahead on the roadmap agreed upon by both the countries in September 2012. She said for enhancement of trade the Wagha-Atari border needs to be opened as the first step for the commencement of full trade while other steps would follow. The Indian Foreign Secretary acknowledged that invitations for visit to Prime Minister Modi have been extended by all the leaders including Prime Minister Sharif, and added all these have been accepted. However dates for the visit were yet to be decided.
dpa adds: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his first day in office Tuesday with a diplomatic bang, taking up the issue of terrorism with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and holding brief talks with a host of regional leaders.
Modi, whose Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power after winning a parliamentary majority in recent elections, urged Sharif to take action against terrorists located in Pakistan who were working against India and to speed up the trial of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack suspects, Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said.
India wants to normalise relations with Pakistan, but to proceed, terrorism and violence must stop, said Singh, who called the meeting constructive. Modi and Sharif also discussed normalising trade relations, Singh said. The biggest advance in India-Pakistan relations was during the tenure of another BJP prime minister, Atal Behari Vajapayee. Vajpayee and Sharif, in an earlier stint as Pakistani premier, had in 1999 initiated a dialogue to resolve all outstanding differences between the two countries, including those over disputed borders and the Kashmir region.
The dialogue broke down because of the Kargil conflict. Sharif said he wanted to pick up where he and Vajpayee had left off. He visited the ailing BJP leader at his home in New Delhi. In an interview with Headlines Today news channel, Karzai said that according to information from Western intelligence agencies, the Herat attack was carried out by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was also responsible for the Mumbai attack.
On his first day on the job, Modi kept a gruelling pace, which he is known for, and after his string of diplomatic meetings made a courtesy call on the outgoing prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and then held a cabinet meeting. The government announced the portfolios Tuesday for 45 ministers, 23 of them with cabinet rank. India's new foreign minister is Sushma Swaraj, who accompanied Modi during the talks with Sharif.
Arun Jaitley, a former leader of the opposition in Parliament's upper house, has been given the finance and commerce portfolios as well as defence until a candidate is found for that ministry. BJP president Rajnath Singh has been named home minister and will be second in command to Modi in the government.