LAHORE/NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi sprang a pleasant surprise on Friday when they met at the former’s residence near Lahore after Mr Modi made a departure from protocol to make an unannounced landing in Pakistan on his way to New Delhi from Kabul.

The Indian prime minister made known his intention to land in the provincial capital through a tweet just hours before his scheduled return home from Afghanistan.

Mr Modi, preferring the relatively relaxed surroundings of Lahore to the stiffness of Islamabad, gave an intimate touch to the visit by joining Mr Sharif at his Jati Umra residence, where he was celebrating his birthday and the wedding of his granddaughter.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry told media after Mr Modi’s departure for Delhi that the Indian leader had paid a “goodwill visit” on his own request, which was readily accepted so that both countries understand each other’s points of view.

The two leaders agreed to strengthen bilateral ties as well as people-to-people contacts in order to push forward the peace process.

Meeting draws a mixed reaction in both countries

The meeting drew a mixed reaction on both sides of the divide, with moderates coming out with hailers and hardliners expressing their apprehensions.

RECEPTION: Mr Sharif himself, along with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and some federal ministers, received Mr Modi at the Lahore airport and accompanied him to his Jati Umra residence on a helicopter.

Upon reaching Nawaz Sharif’s residence, Mr Modi said that it had turned out to be a double celebration as Mr Sharif’s birthday and his granddaughter Mehrun Nisa’s wedding were in progress.

In over an hour stay at Mr Sharif’s residence, both the premiers exchanged pleasantries as well as agreed that the peace talks between the two countries should continue.

Soon after Mr Modi left for home, Mr Chaudhry, the foreign secretary, said the Indian premier had also wished in his meeting with his Pakistani counterpart in Paris that national security advisers and foreign secretaries should meet and take the peace process forward.

Consequently, he added, the national security advisers and foreign secretaries met in Bangkok and chalked out a comprehensive plan to normalise relations between the two countries.

Later, he said, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj came to attend the “Heart of Asia” ministerial conference in Islamabad and decided that bilateral and comprehensive dialogue should be started — to discuss all issues already listed in the composite dialogue.

Mr Chaudhry said the two prime ministers decided that the foreign secretaries from both countries should meet in Islamabad by the middle of next month and carry forward the dialogue process.

Answering a question, the foreign secretary said Pakistan’s civil and military leadership is united and earned massive success in its war against terrorism, which has unanimously been acknowledged by the 44 delegations that participated in the Heart of Asia conference.

After landing in New Delhi, the Indian premier tweeted that he had spent a warm evening with the Sharif family and participated in Mr Sharif’s birthday as well as his granddaughter’s marriage.

He also tweeted that Mr Sharif’s affection towards former Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is very touching as he recalled their interactions.

Mr Modi also acknowledged his counterpart’s gesture of personally welcoming him at Lahore airport and again accompanying him to the airport to see him off.

In India, the Congress stood out as a naysayer while the far right Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) gushed about hopes of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh becoming one nation again in an Akhand Bharat of their dream, peacefully.

Kashmiri resistance leaders welcomed Mr Modi’s surprise air-dash from Kabul to Lahore on Friday seeing it as a good omen for their own struggles.

Some in the media hailed “Modi’s masterstroke” but most political parties across the spectrum offered sober comments tinged with relief.

While the Congress attacked the prime minister for his “attempt to grab the headline”, those who approved of the meeting included the two main communist parties, Jammu and Kashmir’s National Conference and also its rivals in the Kashmiri resistance too.

The less explained secrecy over the meeting led inevitably to speculation. An unnamed close aide to Mr Modi was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying the visit was a spontaneous decision by the prime minister and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, “and that it should not be seen as a sudden shift in India’s position.”

Some news channels saw the role of an Indian tycoon who is considered close to the Pakistan prime minister as playing a hand.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran L K Advani said Mr Modi and other leaders in government should work to carry forward Atal Behari Vajpayee’s initiative for improving Indo-Pak ties and get rid of problem of terrorism.

“The efforts initiated by Vajpayee ji need to be taken forward,” Mr Advani said.

“Modiji and others in government should steadfastly improve relationship with Pakistan and get rid of terrorism, which has been an issue between both the countries.”

Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said the government is “foolishly” thinking that Mr Modis’s unannounced trip was a “masterstroke”. Claiming that the visit was “pre-arranged and pre-discussed”, he said an “industrialist” had played a role in arranging the meeting.

Mr Sharma said Mr Modi’s “approach is frivolous, unpredictable and marked by fits, starts and abrupt U-turns.”

He was unrelenting. “What are the assurances he is bringing back? Has this process been unequivocally endorsed by the real establishment and force in Pakistan — the ISI and the Pakistani army? What are the assurances given, particularly with regard to the trial and punishment of perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack, in particular Lakhvi?” Mr Sharma said.

Arguing that the UPA too had indulged in track II diplomacy but had engaged former ambassadors and diplomats for it, Mr Sharma said: “The business world was not used.”

Kashmir’s Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq termed it “a positive move” and hardline faction leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani appeared to grudgingly endorse the meeting.

“We do not have any issues with relations improving between India and Pakistan… No right thinking persons shall have any reservation on it. However, the two countries have to address the Kashmir issue as per wishes and aspirations of the people if these endeavours are to succeed,” Mr Geelani told Press trust of India.

The Mirwaiz was nuanced in his praise, saying: “Political will and vision is needed on all sides to address issues, specially Kashmir.”

The BJP rubbished the Congress’ charges and hailed Mr. Modi for bringing about a “paradigm-shift” in India’s relations with other nations. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj hailed Mr. Modi’s visit as “statesman-like”.

The RSS spoke with a forked-tongue through its spokesman. “The RSS still believes that one day these parts... will again, through popular goodwill, come together and Akhand Bharat will be created... as an RSS member, I also hold on to that view,” said Ram Madhav, BJP general secretary on lien from the RSS. “As an RSS member, I also hold on to that view.”

Speaking to Al-Jazeera, Mr Madhav clarified that war was not the way to fetch the unity. “That does not mean we wage war on any country... we annex any country.

Without war, through popular consent, it can happen.”

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2015