American media covers the trip prominently.
AB Wire
The United States welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise Christmas Day meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawas Sharif in Lahore, the Press Trust of India reported Friday.
“We welcome the December 25 talks between PM Modi and PM Sharif in Lahore,” the news agency quoted an unnamed State Department spokesman as saying. “As we have long said, better relations between neighbors India and Pakistan will benefit the people of the entire region.”
Modi landed in Lahore on his way back from Afghanistan, where he was on an official visit. During his two-hour stay in the city, the Indian leader attended the wedding of a granddaughter of the Pakistan premier. Friday was also the birthday of Sharif.
The visit was covered prominently by the US media, with major newspapers such as The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, running detailed stories on it.
“The previously unannounced visit is a potential sign of thawing relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbors,” the Associated Press wrote.
The New York Times wrote that the “visit was a dramatic gesture to break the ice at a time when relations between Pakistan and India have been almost completely stalled, after months of tension and canceled diplomatic exchanges.”
“The trip was heavy with imagery,” the Wall Street Journal wrote. “Mr. Modi is a Hindu national leader who has in the past railed against Pakistan. Lahore is Mr. Sharif’s hometown. Not only was Friday Mr. Sharif’s birthday, but his family was also celebrating a wedding. December 25 is also the birthday of the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.”