Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Tuesday that he was extremely pleased to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his short visit to New Delhi at the latter's invitation, and added that the foreign secretaries of the two countries would meet soon for discussions on taking bilateral ties forward.
"I am very pleased to be in New Delhi at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I had a very useful and productive meeting with him (today). It was a warm and cordial meeting," said Sharif, while reading out a carefully crafted statement, which television channel reports here said avoided any mention of terrorism or Kashmir
"I told him that I intend to pick up the threads from the Lahore Declaration (of 1999), and Prime Minister Modi warmly reciprocated my sentiments. We have agreed that the foreign secretaries of the two countries will meet soon.
Both are at the beginning of our tenure with a clear mandate. I told him that I intend to pick up the threads from the 1999 meeting with former PM Vajpayee. Together we should rid the region of instability. Accusations and counter-accusations will not be productive; we want people to overcome the legacy of mistrust and misgivings. We need more people-to-people exchanges," he added.
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said that Modi had raised the issue of cross-border terrorism and sought speedy trial in the 26/11 case in his meeting with Nawaz Sharif.
Before the meeting started, Sharif and Modi shook hands and exchanged pleasantries during their photo opportunity before moving inside for bilateral talks in the presence of officials from both sides.