Rajnath Singh, SAARC ministers call on Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who is in Pakistan to participate in the SAARC ministerial conference, called on Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with his counterparts on 4 August.

Singh visited Sharif at his office, along with a joint delegation of the Interior/Home Ministers of SAARC nations.

"It was a formal courtesy call, nothing else," an official said. The ministers met Sharif for about 20 minutes during which only pleasantries were exchanged, the official said, adding nothing formal was discussed.

Sharif's meeting with Singh comes in the midst of the ongoing strain in bilateral relations between India and Pakistan following the killing of Hizbul Mujahedeen militant Burhan Wani in Jammu and Kashmir on 8 July.

Not only did Sharif praise Wani but he also remarked that "Kashmir will one day become Pakistan", a comment which evoked a sharp reaction from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who said his dream of the state becoming a part of his country "will not be realised even at the end of eternity.

The decision of Singh joining the delegation to visit Sharif was taken after several rounds of consultations among top officials of Ministries of Home, External Affairs an Prime Minister's Office last night. The eight-member SAARC grouping comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

--PTI