It'll be a mistake if Sharif skips Modi's swearing-in: Pak foreign office

Pakistan’s Foreign Office has recommended Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to accept India’s invitation to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi on May 26 in New Delhi, saying it will be a ‘mistake’ to let this opportunity go.

“The Foreign Office has made the recommendation and the decision will most likely be in favour,” a senior diplomat at the FO said, adding, “It will be a mistake to let this opportunity go. We need to see beyond today.”

The government is, however, yet to take a final decision on the invitation received on Wednesday. Modi has invited the leaders of member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation to the ceremony.

he invitation for Sharif has sparked a debate in the country on whether it should be accepted or not, particularly in view of strains in bilateral ties and non-acceptance of Pakistani invitation by Manmohan Singh in the past.

Pak PM Sharif had phoned Modi to congratulate him on his party’s election victory and invited him to visit Pakistan after assuming office. Though the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the elections was cautiously received in Pakistan, the government’s official position has been that it will “comprehensively and meaningfully” engage with the Modi government.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Leader of Opposition Khurshid Ahmed Shah has also asked Sharif to accept the invitation in the larger interest of the people of the two countries.

Shah said such a gesture would help improve the situation in the region and the people in both countries would heave a sigh of relief. “Better relations between India and Pakistan are in the interest of the poor people in both the countries,” he said, adding that it was time that the two countries worked for development of their nations instead of focusing on fights.