Putting a lid on speculations, the newly-elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan has decided that he will not be inviting any Indian celebrities or foreign dignitaries to his swearing-in ceremony on August 11th.
Mr Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has clarified that Mr Khan will take his oath in a simple ceremony with “austerity” and “without any show of extravagance”.
“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,” PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry told Dawn.
Initially reports had surfaced that Mr Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was keen on inviting SAARC leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his oath-taking.
It was also reported that Mr Khan had extended personal invitations to his friends from India-Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan and former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Mr Sidhu who was excited to be a part of the ceremony had even accepted Mr Khan’s invitation.
Navjot Singh Sidhu Source: SBS
The cricketer-turned politician had said "It's an honour to be among the first invitees”. But he had also clarified that he had just received a personal invitation and not an official one.
The 65-year-old cricketer turned politician’s party, PTI emerged as the single largest party in the national assembly elections held on July 25th.
In his victory speech, Mr Khan had said better relations between Pakistan and India would be "good for all of us".
The relations between the two neighbours have remained tense ever since the 2008 Mumbai attack which left 166 people dead.
The ties have further suffered in the absence of bilateral talks since 2013, and also due to regular exchange of fire along the Line of Control in spite of a ceasefire between the two sides.
Furthermore, any attempts to re-start a dialogue between the two countries have also failed to yield any positive results.
