Narendra Modi with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif (Left) during dinner at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday
After taking office today, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi began a series of bilateral meetings with eight South Asian leaders who witnessed his inauguration on Monday.
Mr Modi's first meeting at the Hyderabad House was with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. He has also met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. New Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj is with the Prime Minister for these interactions. (
Narendra Modi's Council of Ministers: Complete List)
At around noon, Mr Modi will meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, for what officials say will be more of an ice-breaker. (
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The two leaders are meeting under the weight of expectations following a long spell of frosty ties over the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and tension along the border.
"We should remove fears, mistrust and misgivings about each other," Mr Sharif told NDTV yesterday, adding, "Both countries should rid the region of instability and security that has plagued us for decades." (
Am Here to Pick Up the Broken Threads of 1999: Nawaz Sharif to NDTV )Mr Sharif said he wanted to pick up the broken threads from where then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and he had left off in 1999, just before the Kargil conflict, in which India fought back Pakistani troops who had seized posts in the mountains on the Indian side.
Mr Sharif will call on Mr Vajpayee later today.
Before heading to the Hyderabad House for his meeting with the new Prime Minister, Mr Sharif visited the Red Fort, Chandni Chowk and Jama Masjid in the old quarters of Delhi.
Yesterday, the two prime ministers talked about their mothers when they met briefly after the swearing in ceremony. (
Why Sharif's Mother Got Emotional Seeing Modi's Pictures )
In a series of tweets, Mr Modi shared, "Earlier in the evening in my conversation with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif he shared some very emotional things...Nawaz Sharif ji told me that he stays in Islamabad but goes to meet his Mother once in a week.
"This time when he was eating with his Mother he saw visuals on TV of my Mother offering me sweets...The visuals touched both Nawaz Sharif ji & his Mother. He told me that after seeing the visuals his Mother got very emotional."
Mr Modi's mother Hiraben, 95, watched the oath ceremony live on TV at her home in Gandhinagar. (
Modi's Mother Watched Him Being Sworn In on TV )