LAHORE, Dec 25 (APP): Federal Finance Minister and Chairman Data Darbar Religious Affairs Committee Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar Friday appreciated the arrangements made by different departments, including Auqaf Department, Police, WASA and City District Government on the occasion of the 972nd annual Urs of Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh (RA).
Nation should fllow Quaid’s principles to make country prosperious: Zehri
ZIARAT, Dec 25 (APP): Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri on Friday said Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had established a seperate country for the Muslims of the Sub-continent after great struggle.
Major political parties in Pakistan welcome Modi’s goodwill visit: Sartaj Aziz
ISLAMABAD, Dec 25 (APP): Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Friday said that major political parties in Pakistan had welcomed the goodwill visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Pakistan.
Raza Rabbani visits mausoleum of Bhutto family
LARKANA, Dec 25 (APP): Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani along with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah visited the mausoleum of Bhutto family in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Friday.
Modi’s goodwill visit to pave way for confidence building: Foreign Secretary
LAHORE, Dec 25 (APP): Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhary on Friday said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit was a goodwill gesture which would pave way for confidence building between the neighbouring countries.
Talking to media persons soon after the Indian Prime Minister’s departure to New Delhi here at the Allama Iqbal International Airport, he said the meeting between Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart would help resolve longstanding issues in the region, besides ending poverty.
The Foreign Secretary said Prime Minister Modi had telephoned his Pakistan counterpart in the morning today to felicitate the latter on his birthday and expressed his wish to make a stopover in Islamabad en-route from Kabul to New Delhi.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he said, told Mr Modi that he was in Lahore and the Indian Prime Minister agreed to meet him (Nawaz Sharif) in Lahore.
UN Secretary General welcomes Modi’s visit to Pakistan
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 25 (APP): UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Friday welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lahore during which he had talks with his Pakistani counterpart Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, hoping the dialogue will be “maintained and strengthened”.
“The Secretary General has long been encouraging both leaders of the two countries to engage in dialogue,” a UN spokesman said, when asked to comment on the surprise visit by PM Modi.
“He (secretary-general) obviously welcomes this visit and this step in the right direction and he hopes that the dialogue will be maintained and strengthened,” the spokesman added.
SPI-based weekly inflation eases 0.07%
ISLAMABAD, Dec 25 (APP): The weekly inflation for the week ended on December 23 for the combined income group witnessed decrease of 0.07 percent as compared to the previous week.
Cold, dry weather forecast in most parts of country
ISLAMABAD, Dec 25 (APP): Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) Friday forecast cold and dry weather in most parts of the country during next 24 hours.
Quaid’s 139th birth anniversary celebrated
KARACHI, Dec 25 (APP): The 139th birth anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was celebrated with enthusiasm on Friday.
Modi gets a warm welcome as he stops over at Lahore
LAHORE, Dec 25 (APP): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday was accorded a warm welcome as he made a brief surprise stopover here to meet his Pakistani counterpart.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif received his Indian counterpart at the Allama Iqbal International Airport. The two leaders embraced and warmly shook hands.
Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar were also present at the airport to receive the guest. A young girl presented a bouquet to the Indian leader.
The two leaders later boarded a helicopter to the Prime Minister’s residence at Jati Umra.
It was the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Pakistan in a decade. A strict security cordon was thrown around the Lahore airport and the airspace closed for commercial flights.
Personnel of elite police were deployed around the airport. It was a closed holiday in Pakistan as the nation was celebrating the 139th birth anniversary of the Founder of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
The Foreign Office spokesman said: “The Indian Prime Minister will make a stopover in Lahore to meet Prime Minister of Pakistan, on his way back from Kabul.”
Modi was in Afghanistan earlier in the day, where he met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and inaugurated the new Parliament building.
Modi, earlier in a tweet, said he was “looking forward to meeting PM Nawaz Sharif in Lahore today afternoon, where I will drop by on my way back to Delhi.”
The thaw in ties came after months of tension and clashes along the Line of Control in which dozens of Pakistani citizens had been martyred by unprovoked firing by the Indian army.
According to diplomatic sources India was under intense international pressure following Pakistan’s strong stance at the United Nations and submission of three dossiers comprising proofs of Indian involvement in subversive activities in Karachi and Balochistan.
The brief huddle between the two leaders on the sidelines of the Climate Summit at Paris led to the announcement of resumption of dialogue between the two countries, that would discuss all issues, including the lingering Kashmir dispute.