Indian steel magnate Sajjan Jindal, in pic left alongside, has met Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during a visit to Islamabad, triggering speculation in Pakistani media over revival of bilateral talks amid strains in ties.
The meeting between Sharif and Jindal took place on Wednesday at the premier’s private residence in the country’s hill station Murree, about 45 km from Islamabad.
After the opposition parties created an uproar over the “secret” meeting, Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif said there was nothing secret about the meeting.
“Mr Jindal is an old friend of the prime minister. Nothing ‘secret’ about the meeting & should not be blown out of proportion. Thank you,” Maryam tweeted.
Sharif’s family members received Jindal at the Islamabad airport after he landed there from Afghanistan. Jindal was later escorted to Murree in an official protocol where he had an hour-long meeting with the prime minister.
Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat too tweeted: Indian steel magnate Sajjan Jindal met PM Nawaz Sharif in Murree today. Jindal is said to have carried a special message from the Indian PM.
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf (PTI) alleged that “Sharif had a secret meeting in which Jindal conveyed the message of India’s Prime Minister Narendera Modi to Sharif over the issue of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav who has been awarded death sentence by a Pakistani military court”.
A resolution was submitted in Pakistan’s Punjab assembly on Thursday against the “secret” meeting between Sharif and Jindal.
Opposition leader in the Punjab assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rashid submitted the resolution in the assembly which said: ‘Jindal brought the message of Modi (which seems to be about Kulbhushan Jadhav). The people of Pakistan should be told as why the premier kept his meeting with Jindal secret. What was the purpose of this meeting at a time when India is bent upon isolating Pakistan in the world.’
