India to host Pakistan PMfor inauguration

ISLAMABAD— Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has agreed to attend Monday’s inauguration of new Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi, a development that could help ease concerns about the potential for frostier relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

Modi, a conservativeHindunationalist whohas made bellicose statements about Pakistan in the past, invited Sharif, and the pair plan to hold a one-on-one meeting, according to a Sharif spokesperson.

Pakistani foreign office sources said the discussion will include topics that over the decades have stirred controversy betweenthe rivals, including the futureof the disputed region of Kashmir and the Siachen Glacier, where each country maintains several thousand troops in a standoff 22,000 feet above sea level.

The planned meeting during Sharif’s overnight visit could help restore talks between the countries, the Pakistani spokesperson said.

Modi, who climbed the ranks of a right-wing Hindu organization and earned a reputation as a tough administrator while serving as chief executive of the Indian state of Gujarat, has said he would deal firmly with cross-border terrorism. But he has also been dogged by accusations that he is a religious fundamentalist who failed to stop a 2002 pogrom in his state that left more than 1,000 dead, most of themMuslims.

As a candidate, Modi softened his rhetoric and last month said of Pakistan, “I believe mutual respect for one another and cooperation should be the basis for relationships with foreign nations.”