New Delhi: Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam hailed her father's decision to attend Narendra Modi's swearing-in saying the step will help in restoring fraying bilateral ties.
In an exclusive statement emailed to Network 18, Maryam said, "The invitation extended by India's Prime Minister-designate & the reciprocal gesture by the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif are being widely hailed by every sane & progressive mind on both sides of the border."
Maryam had on Friday taken to Twitter to express her views on the entire matter wherein she said that personally she was in favour of Pakistan developing ties with the new Indian government.
When on Saturday, the Ministry of External Affairs finally confirmed the Pakistan PM's attendance at Modi's swearing-in, it was anticipated that Maryam would be a part of the five-member delegation. However, it was later reported that she would not be visiting India.
On the ties between India and Pakistan, Maryam further said, "Caught between uncertainty & apprehensions, people of the two countries are hoping that this first, but giant step would yield immediate dividends in terms of restoring fraying bilateral ties, starting afresh on the thwarted peace process.. The real test of visionary leadership & true statesmanship lies not in picking fights & imperilling innocent lives, but to prevent them... Bloodshed, animosity & hatred find no relevance in today's world. It is indeed heartening to see a clear paradigm shift in the thought process on both sidestoday. The masses, weary of decades of hostility, yearn for peace, stability & security in the region. Both the Prime Ministers will have to make a conscious effort to rise up to the aspirations & expectations of the people, for history to remember them as redeemers of hundreds of millions! Yesterday's regional rivals turning into friends & peaceful neighbours will be a new dawn on the lost horizon. For now, peace is my hero !"
After her father accepted the invite, Maryam tweeted: "Aggression is easy to start but difficult to end... Brutality and force are tools of the immoral ... " on the hashtag pakindiarelations.
Prime minister-designate Narendra Modi and Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif's meeting May 27 will come eight months after the heads of the governments of the two countries last met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Sharif met outgoing prime minister Manmohan Singh in New York in September 2013.
It was their first face-to-face meeting since Sharif was elected in May last year.
(With inputs from IANS)
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