According to an official statement from the Indian prime minister’s office, Imran paid a courtesy call on Modi.“At his request, the Chairman of Tehreek-e-Insaf Party and the Member of Parliament of Pakistan Imran Khan called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi today,” it read.
It added that during their discussion, they “welcomed the recent developments in bilateral relations (between Pakistan and India) and expressed the hope that these would lead to closer cooperative ties between the two countries.”
Rizwan Chaudhry, a member of PTI’s media wing, said that Imran was on a two-day visit to India to attend the Agenda Aaj Tak 2015 conference organised by India Today relating to Pakistan-India ties. He added that the PTI chief is expected to address a session.
Earlier, there had been some confusion on who had requested the meeting with PTI’s Shireen Mazari claiming in a tweet that it was perhaps Modi who had sought an audience.
Imran asks Modi to resume cricket
Imran reportedly asked Modi to help resume the bilateral cricket between the hyphenated but hostile neighbours.
A cricket series between Pakistan and India had been scheduled for December 2015 in the International Cricket Council calendar. But the series has been in doubt ever since Pakistan Cricket Board chief’s meeting with his Indian counterpart in Mumbai was disrupted by Shiv Sena activists on October 19. Worsening ties between Islamabad and New Delhi had further complicated matters with the latter refusing to play in the UAE, Pakistan’s adopted home for hosting international cricket.
“I told Prime Minister Modi that India and Pakistan should play each other,” Imran told Rajdeep Sardesai who was moderating a session which also included former Indian captain Kapil Dev.
“We don’t want to be enemies forever. You have to think about the future. There are mutual cricketing heroes in both our countries. Like Wasim Akram is adored and loved in India, Sachin Tendulkar is a hero in Pakistan.”
Kapil tactfully responded to Imran noting that “the decision (for a bilateral cricket series) rests with the government.”
Greater courage needed on both sides
Imran explained that both, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Modi, should not worry about upsetting respective quarters at home and have meetings openly.
“When I said that the two leaders (Nawaz and Modi) lacked leadership, I meant why have secret talks in Kathmandu,” he told Indian journalist Karan Thapar in an interview. “Perhaps Narendra Modi was worried about his own right-wing constituency and Nawaz was worried about the establishment.”
“My point was that leaders do not worry about these things. They get inspired people on board towards greater vision. The vision is peace in the subcontinent and eradicate poverty.”
Last week, the PTI chairman had expressed his shock at the revelation that Nawaz had held a secret “deniable” meeting with his Indian counterpart in 2014 on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Summit in Kathmandu.
Imran went on to say that he was ‘disappointed’ in Modi but with the latest movement on the bilateral front, things were starting to look up.
“To be honest, I thought that just like Vajpayee, he (Modi) represented BJP, was scared when he came into power,” he said, adding “With Modi, I was a bit disappointed. In the beginning, I thought that he had a huge majority, and this was a great time to be a statesman. He was in a great position to bring the countries together. I was a bit disappointed. But people change, they learn.”
Read : Reports of Imran-Modi meeting as PTI chief arrives in New Delhi
