UFA, Russia: The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Pakistan next year to attend the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit in Islamabad.
An invitation in this regard was extended to him by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during a bilateral meeting held on Friday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in the Russian City of Ufa which the former accepted.
It was the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders since May last year, and in the meeting which continued for about one hour, they discussed all important matters of mutual interests.
In a joint press statement read out after the meeting by the Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry and the Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar in Ufa, it was told that the meeting between Nawaz Sharif and Narendera Modi was held in a cordial atmosphere.
During the meeting, both the leaders exchanged views on issues of bilateral and regional interest.
The two leaders agreed that India and Pakistan have collective responsibility to ensure peace and promote development. Both the leaders condemned terrorism in all its forms and agreed to cooperate with each other to eliminate this menace from South Asia.
The two leaders also agreed on the following steps to be taken by both countries:
- A meeting in New Delhi between NSAs (National Security Advisers) of both the countries to discuss all issues connected to terrorism
- Early meetings of DG BSF & DG Pak Rangers followed by that of DGMOs
- A decision to release fishermen in each other`s custody along with the boats within a period of 15 days
- A mechanism to facilitate religious tourism
- Both sides agreed to discussed ways and means to expedite the Mumbai case trial, including additional information like providing voice samples
- Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reiterated his invitation to PM Modi for visiting Pakistan for SAARC summit in 2016. Prime Minister Modi accepted the invitation.
