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Bonhomie again: Right before heart surgery, Sharif calls PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a call from Nawaz Sharif on Monday ahead of his Pakistan counterpart’s open-heart surgery scheduled to be performed at a UK hospital on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a call from Nawaz Sharif on Monday ahead of his Pakistan counterpart’s open-heart surgery scheduled to be performed at a UK hospital on Tuesday.
“PM @narendramodi receives phone call from PM Nawaz Sharif just before Pak PM is wheeled in for surgery. Wishes him a speedy recovery,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.
Modi had on Saturday extended his best wishes to Sharif. “My best wishes to PM Nawaz Sharif Sahab for his open heart surgery on Tuesday. And for his speedy recovery & good health,” he tweeted.
Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif, a confidante of 66-year-old Sharif, had earlier said doctors advised the Pakistan PM to undergo an open-heart surgery, following which he decided to staying at the hospital for a week.
Read | Indo-Pak talks and the troubled relationship between Modi and Sharif
Monday’s phone call between Modi and Sharif came months after the Indian Prime Minister made a surprise stopover in Pakistan to meet Sharif in a brief bonhomie between the two leaders.
Sharif was also on the guest list of leaders from an eight-member regional grouping invited to attend Modi’s swearing in 2014.
Read | Bilawal says Pakistan PM Sharif is ‘Modi ka yaar’, asks him to quit
An assault on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot near the Pakistan border recently threw into doubt diplomatic talks planned between the two countries.
India has called on Islamabad to take “prompt and decisive” action against militants from the neighbouring country it blames for the Pathankot assault, which only ended after a four-day operation to secure the base.
