PM Nawaz telephones his Indian counterpart before surgery

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PM Nawaz telephones his Indian counterpart before surgery

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday received a phone call from his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, a day before latter’s open heart surgery in London.

Vikas Swarup, a spokesman for India’s External Affairs ministry, said on twitter that Mr Modi received phone call from Nawaz Sharif just before Pakistani prime minister is wheeled in for surgery.

He said the Indian prime minister wished Nawaz Sharif a speedy recovery.

Nawaz Shairf attended oath taking ceremony of Narendra Modi in 2014 to become the first Pakistani prime minister to attend inaugural ceremony of an Indian leader.

Modi paid a surprise visit to Pakistan and briefly attended wedding ceremony of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s granddaughter last year.

Relations between the two neighbouring countries became strained after the Pathankot Airbase attack in India and arrest of an Indian spy by Pakistani security forces earlier this year. Khulbhushan Yadav also confessed to orchestrating various acts of terrorism.

Prime Minister Sharif also presided over a meeting of the National Economic Council through a video link from London earlier in the day.

The NEC meeting considered the proposed Annual Development Plan (ADP) and the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). The meeting approved development budget worth Rs1,675 billion for the fiscal year 2016-2017.

Prime Minister Nawaz is in London where he is to undergo an open heart surgery on Tuesday and doctors have advised him to take a week long rest after the operation.

PM’s sons, Hassan and Hussain Nawaz along with their mother Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, are also in London to oversee the surgery. Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif said on her official Twitter account that the surgery would be for perforation of the heart, a complication from an earlier procedure in 2011.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said the prime minister was continuing to oversee the state affairs in the days before his surgery. It is, however, natural and understandable that the prime minister will be off from any activities after the surgery, the statement said.