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Pakistan’s PM-in-waiting Imran Khan has decided against inviting foreign dignitaries to his oath-taking ceremony, Dawn news reported. Khan reportedly wishes to have an austere ceremony, which rules out the possibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi being invited.
"The PTI chairman has directed to stage the oath-taking event with austerity. He will take his oath in a simple ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr (President House)," PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry told DAWN.
"It has been decided that no foreign personalities will be invited to the ceremony — it will be a completely national event. Only a few close friends of Imran Khan will be invited," he added.
Bollywood star Aamir Khan and cricketers Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Navjyot Singh Sidhu have already been invited by the party for the event.
The party had earlier asked the Foreign Office to apprise it on whether the heads of state, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would be invited to Imran Khan's oath-taking.
‘Man of Character,’ Says Sidhu
Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday, 1 August, said that he has accepted the invitation extended by Imran Khan for attending his swearing-in ceremony as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
It is (a) great honour, I accept the invitation. Men of genius are admired, men of power are feared, but men of character are trusted. Khan Sahab is a man of character. He can be trusted. Sportsmen build bridges, break barriers, unite people.Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu
Imran Thanks Modi For Wishes
On Monday, Prime Minister Modi telephoned Khan to congratulate him on his party's victory in the general elections and hoped that "Pakistan and India will work to open a new chapter in bilateral ties.”a
Khan thanked Modi for his wishes and emphasised that disputes should be resolved through dialogue.
The PTI, led by 65-year-old Khan, has emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly after the July 25 elections and it is likely to form the government with the support of its allies and independents.
The then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had travelled to New Delhi to attend Modi’s oath taking ceremony in 2014 and the Indian premier had in December 2015 made a brief stopover in Lahore to greet his counterpart on his birthday.
The India-Pakistan ties nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place.
The ties between the two countries had strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016 and India's surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The sentencing of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to death by a military court in April last year further deteriorated bilateral ties.
The two sides often accuse each other of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control, resulting in civilian casualties.
In his victory speech, Khan had said that better relations between Pakistan and India would be "good for all of us".
(With inputs from Dawn News and PTI)
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