<div>Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unscheduled stopover to Lahore on his way back to India from Kabul, the BJP on Friday described the gesture as “a much-needed” departure from the “protocol-driven” diplomacy between the two countries.<br /><br />BJP’s ally Shiv Sena, however, was not convinced. “PM Modi’s sudden stopover at Lahore to greet Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif is a much-needed departure from the protocol-driven politics between the two countries. Like leaders of other nations in the world like the EU, Asean and even countries in our neighbourhood, leaders of India and Pakistan too needed to inject informality in their relations,” BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said.<br /><br />The BJP equated Modi’s surprise visit as a diplomatic move parallel to the Lahore bus initiative of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999, saying the timing was also perfect as it came on the 91st birthday of Vajpayee.<br /><br />“What better day than the birthday of Atalji for this path-breaking departure!," Madhav, who has been involved in the behind-the-scene arrangements of PM’s foreign visits, tweeted. BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli saw this exercise as a forward movement to cement neighbour ties which the PM had pledged at the time of taking oath in May last year. <br /><br />Frowning at Modi’s unexpected ice-breaking visit to attend Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif’s grand-daughter’s wedding at Lahore, Sena leader Sanjay Raut said his party would appreciate the PM’s visit if he managed to bring back fugitive Dawood Ibrahim back to India.<br /><br />“Tomorrow is Dawood Ibrahim's birthday... if the prime minister can succeed in bringing him back to India, then we shall welcome and support his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister today,” Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut said in Mumbai. <br /><br />Raut, who is also the executive editor of “Saamana”, the Sena’s mouthpiece, said his party remains committed to its line of thought that there should not be bilateral relations with Pakistan till it stopped terror. “Even yesterday (Thursday) there was a terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir in which some 12-13 soldiers were seriously injured and are battling for life,” Raut said.<br /><br />To a query on former journalist and chairman of Observer Research Foundation-Mumbai Sudheendra Kulkarni who recently urged Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to visit Pakistan, Raut said: “No one knows or has heard of him".<br /><br />Former external affairs minister Natwar Singh though found it “imaginative” but felt that it “will send a good message across India and Pakistan”.<br /><br />The NCP welcomed the PM’s visit and wished Nawaz Sharif on his birthday. “#ModiInLahore - Positive step forward in Indo - Pak relationship. Let's hope for the best, Dialogue always a must,” Pawar’s daughter and Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule tweeted. <br /><br /></div>
<div>Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unscheduled stopover to Lahore on his way back to India from Kabul, the BJP on Friday described the gesture as “a much-needed” departure from the “protocol-driven” diplomacy between the two countries.<br /><br />BJP’s ally Shiv Sena, however, was not convinced. “PM Modi’s sudden stopover at Lahore to greet Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif is a much-needed departure from the protocol-driven politics between the two countries. Like leaders of other nations in the world like the EU, Asean and even countries in our neighbourhood, leaders of India and Pakistan too needed to inject informality in their relations,” BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said.<br /><br />The BJP equated Modi’s surprise visit as a diplomatic move parallel to the Lahore bus initiative of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999, saying the timing was also perfect as it came on the 91st birthday of Vajpayee.<br /><br />“What better day than the birthday of Atalji for this path-breaking departure!," Madhav, who has been involved in the behind-the-scene arrangements of PM’s foreign visits, tweeted. BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli saw this exercise as a forward movement to cement neighbour ties which the PM had pledged at the time of taking oath in May last year. <br /><br />Frowning at Modi’s unexpected ice-breaking visit to attend Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif’s grand-daughter’s wedding at Lahore, Sena leader Sanjay Raut said his party would appreciate the PM’s visit if he managed to bring back fugitive Dawood Ibrahim back to India.<br /><br />“Tomorrow is Dawood Ibrahim's birthday... if the prime minister can succeed in bringing him back to India, then we shall welcome and support his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister today,” Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut said in Mumbai. <br /><br />Raut, who is also the executive editor of “Saamana”, the Sena’s mouthpiece, said his party remains committed to its line of thought that there should not be bilateral relations with Pakistan till it stopped terror. “Even yesterday (Thursday) there was a terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir in which some 12-13 soldiers were seriously injured and are battling for life,” Raut said.<br /><br />To a query on former journalist and chairman of Observer Research Foundation-Mumbai Sudheendra Kulkarni who recently urged Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to visit Pakistan, Raut said: “No one knows or has heard of him".<br /><br />Former external affairs minister Natwar Singh though found it “imaginative” but felt that it “will send a good message across India and Pakistan”.<br /><br />The NCP welcomed the PM’s visit and wished Nawaz Sharif on his birthday. “#ModiInLahore - Positive step forward in Indo - Pak relationship. Let's hope for the best, Dialogue always a must,” Pawar’s daughter and Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule tweeted. <br /><br /></div>
