ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party said on Wednesday that it would like to invite Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and other foreign heads of states to the prime minister-elect Imran Khan’s oath ceremony.
Though the party has already invited Indian celebrities like Amir Khan,
Kapil Dev and
Sunil Gavaskar, it has asked the Foreign Office (FO) to confirm whether foreign heads of states could be invited to the prime minister’s swearing-in ceremony, scheduled to take place in Islamabad on August 11, three days before the country’s Independence Day.
A day earlier, the PTI had denied news reports that it was considering inviting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other heads of Saarc countries for the ceremony.
In an informal conversation with reporters outside the Supreme Court after meeting the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, the PTI’s spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said that the party had asked the FO if it would be possible to invite foreign dignitaries, including Indian PM Narendra Modi, at a short notice. “The FO has yet to respond on the matter and we are waiting for it,” Chaudhry said.
He said the party had already invited celebrities like Amir Khan, Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar for the ceremony.
On Tuesday, Iftikhar Durrani, PTI’s media head, said, “We have note extended any invite nor was this issue discussed during Monday night’s telephonic conversation between Khan and Modi.”
