Doubts Over Modi’s Pak Visit, Sushma Confirms, Ministry Denies

PM Narendra Modi will visit Pakistan next year for SAARC summit, confirms External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the SAARC summit in Nepal. (Photo: Reuters)

The foreign ministry has now denied Sushma Swaraj’s statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Pakistan, according to NDTV.

Earlier in the day, Swaraj had said, “he will be here” when asked by media persons if Modi will be visiting Pakistan.

She was also quoted as saying that Modi will participate in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit.

According to a report by Geo TV, Swaraj said she would accompany Modi during his visit.

The comments were made by Sushma Swaraj while in Islamabad for the Heart of Asia conference.

In July this year, Modi had accepted an invitation from his counterpart Sharif to travel to Islamabad next year, in what would be his first visit to Pakistan in 12 years. In a joint statement, from both Indian and Pakistani governments said that the invitation was extended when both prime ministers met in Ufa, Russia.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reiterated his invitation to Prime Minister Modi to visit Pakistan for the SAARC Summit in 2016. Prime Minister Modi accepted that invitation.

<b>Joint Statement, India and Pakistan</b>

(With agency inputs.)