Dec 04 , 2015
News
Impossible for two PMs to hold secret meeting: Pervaiz
Clarification comes a day after PTI chairman lashes out at Prime Minister Nawaz, Modi
INP
ISLAMABAD - Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid on Friday rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s allegation regarding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s secret meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Saarc 2014 summit.
Talking to a private TV, the minister said there was no need for the prime minister to meet secretly as both the prime ministers had met each other at different occasions in front of media. He further asserted that it was impossible for any prime minister to meet another secretly as they lead delegations and have very tight schedule.
The clarification comes a day after PTI chairman lashed out at Prime Minister Nawaz and his Indian counterpart Modi for holding a secret meeting in Kathmandu last year, and called both leaders ‘cowards.’ “Leaders do not need to hold meetings in secret. They do not need to lie; in fact they must be credible,” the PTI chairman said while addressing a leaders’ conference in Lahore.
The revelations regarding secret meeting were made in a book called “This Unquiet Land — Stories from India’s Fault Lines”, by Indian journalist Barkha Dutt, who alleged that Nawaz and Modi vanished for an hour to hold a meeting inside a hotel room on the sidelines of a regional summit hosted by Nepal last year.
The meeting was allegedly facilitated by Indian steel magnate Sajjan Jindal, who is the brother of former Congress MP Naveen Jindal. Both the Pakistan and Indian governments have rubbished reports of such a meeting, terming news reports on the matter baseless.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk