PM gets Advani's approval on his surprise stopover at Lahore
NEW DELHI, Dec 27, 2015, DHNS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday got a pat on his back from his estranged mentor L K Advani on his spontaneous Lahore stopover to meet Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif.
Former deputy prime minister Advani, left cold due to his frosty relationship with the prime minister, praised Modi for taking forward Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s initiative to bring peace among adverse neighbours and desired that the present NDA regime should work to get rid of terrorism – the irritant in the bilateral relations.
“The efforts initiated by Vajpayee need to be taken forward. Modi and others in the government should steadfastly improve relationship with Pakistan and get rid of terrorism, which has been an issue between both the countries,” Advani told reporters in Gandhinagar when his reaction was sought on Lahore touchdown.
Advani had an insight to extra mile the then prime minister Vajpayee walked to improve relations. Vajpayee had travelled to Lahore in a bus from India in 1999 and started a peace initiative with Pakistan in 2004 but the nation had to face terror attacks.
That fear had held back out of the box initiative by successive two UPA regimes. Advani, however, had bitter personal experience when he had praised Mohammed Ali Jinnah as “secular” during his 2005 visit to his tomb in Karachi.
Interestingly, Advani’s stamp on Modi’s endevour comes in the backdrop of BJP general secretary Ram Madhav revisiting “akhand Bharat (greater India)” plank which he had given up then.
Madhav told a news channel that party’s ideological mentor RSS believes that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will one day reunite again through “popular goodwill” and not war.
“The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) still believes that one day these parts, which have for historical reasons separated only 60 years ago, will again, through popular goodwill, come together and Akhand Bharat will be created,” he said in an interview which was recorded before Modi’s Lahore visit. The BJP, however, saw “transformative moment” in the PM’s initiative for bringing normalcy in bilateral relation. Editor-turned BJP spokesperson M J Akbar said, “The party expresses its deep admiration for the prime minister for his courage, vision, imagination and skill in creating a transformative moment on the sub-continent”.
Akbar was at the same time cautious too going by the fact that similar moves by Vajpayee got terror strikes and border skirmishes in return.
“Search of peace does not meant that we have already found it. But the process particularly in a region with as many complex problems as ours, history as ours; the pursuit of peace, always a fragile commodity, requires kind of courage shown in Lahore,” Akbar said.
Former deputy prime minister Advani, left cold due to his frosty relationship with the prime minister, praised Modi for taking forward Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s initiative to bring peace among adverse neighbours and desired that the present NDA regime should work to get rid of terrorism – the irritant in the bilateral relations.
“The efforts initiated by Vajpayee need to be taken forward. Modi and others in the government should steadfastly improve relationship with Pakistan and get rid of terrorism, which has been an issue between both the countries,” Advani told reporters in Gandhinagar when his reaction was sought on Lahore touchdown.
Advani had an insight to extra mile the then prime minister Vajpayee walked to improve relations. Vajpayee had travelled to Lahore in a bus from India in 1999 and started a peace initiative with Pakistan in 2004 but the nation had to face terror attacks.
That fear had held back out of the box initiative by successive two UPA regimes. Advani, however, had bitter personal experience when he had praised Mohammed Ali Jinnah as “secular” during his 2005 visit to his tomb in Karachi.
Interestingly, Advani’s stamp on Modi’s endevour comes in the backdrop of BJP general secretary Ram Madhav revisiting “akhand Bharat (greater India)” plank which he had given up then.
Madhav told a news channel that party’s ideological mentor RSS believes that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will one day reunite again through “popular goodwill” and not war.
“The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) still believes that one day these parts, which have for historical reasons separated only 60 years ago, will again, through popular goodwill, come together and Akhand Bharat will be created,” he said in an interview which was recorded before Modi’s Lahore visit. The BJP, however, saw “transformative moment” in the PM’s initiative for bringing normalcy in bilateral relation. Editor-turned BJP spokesperson M J Akbar said, “The party expresses its deep admiration for the prime minister for his courage, vision, imagination and skill in creating a transformative moment on the sub-continent”.
Akbar was at the same time cautious too going by the fact that similar moves by Vajpayee got terror strikes and border skirmishes in return.
“Search of peace does not meant that we have already found it. But the process particularly in a region with as many complex problems as ours, history as ours; the pursuit of peace, always a fragile commodity, requires kind of courage shown in Lahore,” Akbar said.
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