New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will likely attend next Monday's swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi, India's prime minister-elect, this according to Pakistani government sources, anonymous for security reasons, quoted in Karachi's The Express Tribune.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tasnin Aslam confirmed India's invitation. Tariq Azim, press secretary of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), called the move "bold and unexpected."
This is also thought to be the first time a Pakistani Prime Minister is invited to the swearing-in ceremony of his Indian counterpart.
Some construe Sharif's invitation as an attempt to fend off speculation that the victory of the ultra-nationalist Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will wreck even more relations the strained relations between the two nations, especially since Modi used harsh language against Pakistan during the election campaign.
"Excellent move" tweeted Omar Abdullah, chief minister of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir. "At the same time," he said in another tweet, "I can't help wonder what [the] BJP would have said if a PM designate Rahul Gandhi had done the same thing". Both countries claim Jammu and Kashmir.
Sharif was invited as a leader of a member state of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
In addition to Pakistan leaders, invited foreign dignitaries include Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The first three have already confirmed their presence. Since Prime Minister Hasina will be in Japan at the time, she will be represented by her country's speaker.