Date- December 25, 2015 Location – Kabul, Afghanistan Prime Minister Modi was in Kabul. He inaugurated the new Parliament building constructed at a cost of Rs 900 crore with Indian assistance. During this, Modi also delivered a speech in which he addressed Pakistan without taking its name.
Soon after, around 1:30 p.m., Modi tweeted: “Going to meet Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore. » This tweet caused a sensation around the world, particularly in India and Pakistan. People could not believe that Modi would visit Pakistan so suddenly.
About 3 1/2 hours after tweeting, Modi was at the Lahore airport. He exited the plane waving and saluting. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was present there, hugged Modi and laughingly told him: “Finally, you have come.”
Prime Minister Modi had attended the wedding of the granddaughter of the then Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Almost 9 years after this incident, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar visited Pakistan. This is the first time in many years that a senior Indian leader has visited Pakistan. There has been a long history of ups and downs in relations between India and Pakistan
Journey of relations between the two countries in 10 images
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Jawaharlal Nehru shaking hands with Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra
In 1953, India and Pakistan for the first time forgot all their differences and established friendship. During this period, Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, visited Pakistan for the first time in July 1953. Here he was welcomed by the third Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Bogra.
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Nehru himself had arrived at Palam airport to welcome Pakistani Prime Minister Bogra and his wife.
Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra also came to India for the first time in May 1955. During this time, his second wife Alia Begum also came to India. Alia Begum was making headlines at that time. In fact, Bogra served as ambassador to America before becoming prime minister. There, Alia Begum, originally from Lebanon, worked as a stenographer in his office.
When Bogra became Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1953, he called Alia and appointed her as his secretary. After some time, they both got married. Bogra was already married and had two sons.
In such a situation, there was an uproar around this marriage. Wives of Pakistani politicians and civil servants feared that the practice of polygamy would grow in politics. So they decided to boycott Alia Begum. Alia Begum has not been invited to any program in Pakistan. Wherever she went, no other officer’s wife went.
Meanwhile, Alia Begum came to India with her husband Bogra. Even after arriving here, Alia’s boycott continued. No woman welcomed him. Even Indira Gandhi, who accompanied Father Nehru during the grand functions, was not present on this occasion. However, the reason for his absence was never known.
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Jawahar Lal Nehru with Pakistani Prime Minister Ayub Khan pictured
Jawaharlal Nehru visited Pakistan for the second time in 1960. He had gone to sign the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan. During this period, Nehru visited many cities including Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore. Thousands of people came from all over to see him.
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From left to right: Indira Gandhi, Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Foreign Minister Swaran Singh.
After the 1971 war, a historic agreement was signed between India and Pakistan on July 3, 1972 in Shimla. It was signed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on behalf of India and Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on behalf of Pakistan. It was decided that any dispute between the two countries would be resolved peacefully.
It was also agreed between the two countries to maintain the old status quo regarding Jammu and Kashmir. However, upon his return after concluding the agreement in Shimla, Prime Minister Bhutto declared for the first time in Pakistan that he had not made any compromise in his Kashmir policy.
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The then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Rajiv Gandhi visited Pakistan in January 1988. This visit of Rajiv Gandhi was also special because after 28 years of Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit, an Indian Prime Minister had set foot on Pakistani soil.
Only four weeks had passed since Benazir became prime minister. Rajiv Gandhi attended the SAARC conference in Pakistan. Rajiv and Benazir had a separate meeting on the Kashmir issue. During the meeting, Rajiv had called Kashmir irrelevant.
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Benazir Bhutto, Rajiv Gandhi, Asif Ali Zardari, Sonia Gandhi (left to right)
Benazir had invited Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and his wife Sonia as guests after the meeting of SAARC countries in Islamabad. The two countries then also agreed to reduce their military levels. Rajiv Gandhi had expressed happiness over Indian leader Morarji Desai receiving Pakistan’s highest honour, Nishan-e-Pakistan.
Benazir had said she had stopped supporting Sikh separatists in India, promoted by General Zia ul Haq. The Maulanas of Pakistan did not like the relations that flourished between the two countries during the era of Rajiv and Benazir. He accused Benazir of having an affair with Rajiv Gandhi. She was also said to be a secret agent of India.
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Atal Bihari Vajpayee and actor Shatrughan Sinha on the bus.
In 1998, India and Pakistan carried out nuclear tests. The two countries’ nuclear explosions were the subject of discussion around the world. In September this year, the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan arrived in New York to attend the United Nations meeting. Both of them met here and the idea of starting a bus service between India and Pakistan was born.
The start of the bus journey was announced in February 1999. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was visiting Amritsar to mark the start of the bus journey. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif obtained this information. Then he called the Indian Prime Minister and asked him to come to Pakistan.
Atal agreed. The Prime Minister reached Pakistan by bus along with celebrities like actor Dev Anand, Shatrughan Sinha and journalist Kuldeep Nayyar. During this visit, Atal ji’s quick response to a strange question from a Pakistani journalist surprised everyone.
In fact, while proposing marriage to Atal ji, the journalist said that if he shows her Kashmir, she is ready to marry him. In response to this, Atal ji said that he also wanted the whole of Pakistan to have dowry.
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Atal Bihari Vajpayee with General Pervez Musharraf. In the middle is the then President of India, KR Narayanan.
In 1999, the Kargil War took place between the armies of India and Pakistan. The architect of this war was Pakistani General Pervez Musharraf. After Pakistan’s defeat, he seized power through a coup. Musharraf was touring India after two years in July 2001.
The historic city of Agra was chosen for the Indo-Pakistani negotiations. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee led it from the Indian side. This conversation became a topic of discussion in the global media at that time. According to media reports, India had demanded the handover of terrorist Dawood Ibrahim to India. At the same time, Musharraf had raised the Kashmir issue. For these two reasons, this negotiation failed.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi shaking hands with Nawaz Sharif at the Lahore airport.
In 2015, Narendra Modi was the fourth Prime Minister to visit Pakistan. Narendra Modi had reached Pakistan without any prior planning. Prime Minister Modi had told a TV channel in an interview that during his visit to Afghanistan on December 25, he called Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to wish him on his birthday.
During the conversation, Sharif invited Modi to visit Pakistan and said that he too should enjoy hospitality. Sharif was then in Lahore for his granddaughter’s wedding. I called him in Lahore itself. Modi also agreed. Suddenly, arrangements were made for Prime Minister Modi to visit Lahore.
Sharif himself came to welcome Modi at the Lahore airport. Modi stayed at Nawaz’s house for around 90 minutes. During this time, he was served Kashmiri tea, pulses, green vegetables and dishes prepared in desi ghee. After this, Sharif wore the same turban that Modi had gifted to his granddaughter Walima. Modi’s visit was welcomed by the whole world. Pakistani media called it Modi’s diplomatic masterpiece.
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