Date- 25 December 2015 Place- Kabul, Afghanistan PM Narendra Modi was in Kabul. He inaugurated the new Parliament building built at a cost of 900 crore rupees with the help of India. Meanwhile, Modi also gave a speech, in which he attacked Pakistan without naming it.
Sometime later, at around 1.30 PM, Modi tweeted-
I am going to meet Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif in Lahore.
This tweet created an uproar in the whole world including India and Pakistan. People could not believe that Modi is suddenly going to Pakistan.
About three and a half hours after tweeting, Modi was at Lahore airport. They exited the plane waving and greeting each other. Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif, present there, hugged Modi and said with a smile – 'Finally you have come.'
The then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Pakistan on 10 December 2015, 15 days before PM Modi's visit to Pakistan.
PM Modi attended the wedding of the granddaughter of Pakistan's then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Almost 9 years after this incident, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has visited Pakistan. This is the first time in many years that a top Indian leader has visited Pakistan. Relations between India and Pakistan have a long history of such ups and downs.
A journey of relations between the two countries in 9 pictures
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Jawaharlal Nehru shaking hands with Pakistani PM Mohammad Ali Bogra.
In the year 1953, for the first time, India and Pakistan started friendship by forgetting all disputes. During this time the then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru visited Pakistan for the first time in July 1953. The third Prime Minister of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Bogra welcomed him here.
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Nehru himself arrived at the Palam airport to receive Pakistani PM Bogra and his wife.
Pakistani PM Mohammad Ali Bogra also visited India for the first time in May 1955. Meanwhile, his second wife Alia Begum also came to India. Meanwhile Alia Begum was in discussion. In fact, Bogra was the ambassador to America before becoming the Prime Minister. There Alia Begum of Lebanon was working as a stenographer in his office.
When Bogra became the PM of Pakistan in 1953, he summoned Alia and appointed her as his secretary. After some time both got married. Bogra was already married and had two sons.
In such a situation, there was an uproar about this marriage. There was a fear among the wives of politicians and officials in Pakistan that the practice of polygamy might start in politics. So they decided to boycott Alia Begum. Alia Begum was not invited to any event in Pakistan. Wherever he went, no other officer's wife went.
Meanwhile Alia Begum came to India with her husband Bogra. Even after coming here, Alia's boycott continued. No woman greeted him. Indira Gandhi also used to go to big events with her father Nehru on this occasion. However, the reason for his absence is never known.
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Jawaharlal Nehru with Pakistan PM Ayub Khan in the picture.
Jawaharlal Nehru visited Pakistan for the second time in 1960. He went to sign the Indus River Water Treaty with Pakistan. During this period, Nehru visited many cities including Karachi, Rawalpindi, Lahore. Thousands of people came from far and wide to see him.
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From left- Indira Gandhi, Pakistani PM Zulfikar Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Foreign Minister Swaran Singh.
After the 1971 war, a historic accord was reached between India and Pakistan on 3 July 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. In which it was decided that every dispute between the two countries would be resolved peacefully.
The two countries also agreed to maintain the old status quo over Jammu and Kashmir. However, as soon as PM Bhutto returned from the agreement in Shimla, he made the first statement in Pakistan that we have not agreed on our policy on Kashmir.
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The then Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi with Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto.
Rajiv Gandhi went to Pakistan in January 1988. Rajiv Gandhi's visit was also special because it was 28 years after Jawaharlal Nehru's visit that an Indian Prime Minister set foot on Pakistan's soil.
It was only 4 weeks since Benazir became the PM. Rajiv Gandhi attended the SAARC Summit in Pakistan. Rajiv and Benazir held separate meetings on the Kashmir issue. In the meeting, Rajiv called Kashmir irrelevant.
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Left to Right- Sonia Gandhi, Asif Ali Zardari, Rajiv Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto.
After the SAARC meeting in Islamabad, Benazir invited PM Rajiv Gandhi and his wife Sonia as guests. The two countries then also agreed to reduce troop levels. Rajiv Gandhi expressed happiness on former Prime Minister Morarji Desai being awarded Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest honor of Pakistan.
Benazir claimed that he had stopped supporting Sikh separatists in India, who were encouraged by General Zia ul Haq. The Maulanas of Pakistan did not like the relations that flourished between the two countries during the Rajiv and Benazir era. He accused Benazir of having an affair with Rajiv Gandhi. It was also said that he is a secret agent of India.
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Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the bus and actor Shatrughan Sinha in the back seat.
In the year 1998, both India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests. Nuclear explosions of both countries were being discussed all over the world. In September this year, the PMs of India and Pakistan reached New York to attend the United Nations meeting. Both met here and came up with the idea of starting a bus service between India and Pakistan.
The introduction of bus travel was announced in February 1999. PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was on his way to Amritsar to give the green light to the bus journey. Pakistan's PM Nawaz Sharif received this information. After that he called the Indian PM and requested him to come to Pakistan.
Atal agreed. Atalji reached Pakistan by bus along with celebrities like actor Dev Anand, Shatrughan Sinha, journalist Kuldeep Nayyar. During this interview, Atalji's jaw-dropping answer to a strange question from a female journalist from Pakistan shocked everyone.
In fact, while proposing marriage to Atalji, the lady journalist said, I am ready to marry him if he (Atal) shows me Kashmir. In response, Atalji said that the whole of Pakistan is needed in dowry.
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Atal Bihari Vajpayee with General Pervez Musharraf. In the middle is the then President of India KR Narayanan.
In the year 1999, the Kargil war was fought between the armies of India and Pakistan. The architect of this war was General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan. After the defeat of Pakistan, he seized power in a coup. Musharraf visited India in July 2001 after two years.
The historic city of Agra was chosen for India-Pakistan talks. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was leading it from India. This conversation became a topic of discussion in the global media at the time. According to media reports, India has demanded the handover of terrorist Dawood Ibrahim to India. Musharraf also raised the issue of Kashmir. These negotiations failed due to these two reasons.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi shaking hands with Nawaz Sharif at Lahore Airport.
In 2015, Narendra Modi was the fourth Prime Minister to visit Pakistan. Narendra Modi reached Pakistan without any prior planning. PM Modi said in an interview to a TV channel that on December 25, during his visit to Afghanistan, he called Pakistan's PM Nawaz Sharif to wish him on his birthday.
During the conversation, Sharif invited Modi to come to Pakistan and said that he too should be given an opportunity of hospitality. Sharif was then in Lahore for his granddaughter's wedding. Called him in Lahore. Modi also agreed. A sudden arrangement was made for PM Modi to go to Lahore.
Sharif himself came to welcome Modi at the Lahore airport. Modi stayed at Nawaz's house for about 90 minutes. Meanwhile they were served food made with Kashmiri tea, pulses, greens and desi ghee. After this, Sharif wore the same turban that Modi had gifted to his granddaughter Walima. Modi's visit was appreciated by the whole world. Pakistani media called it a diplomatic masterstroke by Modi.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
