Pakistan welcomes India's goodwill gesture, says Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry

Lahore: The Pakistan government on Friday described as a “goodwill gesture” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise visit to Lahore where he met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif. “It was a goodwill gesture on the part of the Indian prime minister,” Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry told the media. [caption id=“attachment_2559984” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif at the latter’s residence at Raiwind in Lahore on Friday. PTI[/caption] “Prime Minister Sharif has welcomed this,” he added. On his way back to New Delhi from Kabul, Modi made a sudden stopover in Lahore where he greeted Sharif on his birthday and took part in the wedding celebrations of the latter’s granddaughter. After blessing the bride during the 90-minute visit to Sharif’s ancestral home at Raiwind, 40 km from Lahore, Modi later flew to New Delhi. Chaudhury said that both the leaders agreed to carry forward the peace process and broaden bilateral contacts. “Both the leaders decided to continue the dialogue in the greater interest of people of the two nations,” he said. IANS