India and Pakistan are both cricket loving countries. The two nations clash in a highly anticipated and hyped cricket fixture on 15th February 2015. The Indian Prime Minister conveyed best wishes not just to Nawaz Sharif, but to the chief executives of the five SAARC countries participating in the mega event.
Modi took to Twitter and broke the news of his telephone calls to the various heads of states.
Spoke to President @ashrafghani, PM Sheikh Hasina, PM Nawaz Sharif & President Sirisena. Conveyed my best wishes for the Cricket World Cup.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 13, 2015
In yet another Tweet, Modi also gave the reason for his initiative of calling his various counterparts from Afghanistan to Bangladesh.
Cricket connects people in our region & promotes goodwill. Hope players from SAARC region play with passion & bring laurels to the region.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 13, 2015
India and Pakistan have always had a bitter relationship. With the province of Jammu and Kashmir as the bone of contention between the two rival countries, three wars have been fought between the neighbors. Modi’s call has come at a time when the Indo-Pak relations have yet suffered on account of the Peshawar tragedy that struck Pakistan. The Pakistan Army chief recently handed over key evidences of Indian involvement in Afghanistan for anti-Pakistana ctivities, to American civil and military officials. Modi’s warm and friendly reception of American President Barrack Obama last month also irked the Pakistani government.
Foreign Office spokesperson Riffat Masood termed the diplomatic phone call an important event and expressed hope that something concretely positive could be extracted from the gesture. The two leaders have previously met at the 18th SAARC Summit and discussed measures to counter terrorism. Prime Minister Sharif also penned an open letter to Modhi a few months ago and also sent him mangoes in September 2014 as a goodwill gesture. According to reports, the call didn’t entirely focus on a cricketing discussion. Bilateral relations and matters of mutual interests were discussed during the telephone conversation between Sharif and Modi.
