Modi fourth Indian PM to visit Pakistan

Islamabad, Dec 26: Narendra Modi is the fourth Indian prime minister to visit Pakistan while 10 out of 14 Indian prime ministers have never been to Pakistan, a leading newspaper said on Saturday.

The other Indian prime ministers who have visited Pakistan are Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jang newspaper said.

Nehru, India's first prime minister, made two visits to Pakistan: in 1953 and 1960.

A full 28 years after Nehru's second visit, his grandson and prime minister Rajiv Gandhi visited Pakistan in 1988 to take part in the fourth SAARC conference. He made his second visit in 1989.

In 1999, prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee went to Pakistan and inaugurated the Lahore-New Delhi bus service. He visited Islamabad in 2004 to participate in the 19th SAARC conference.

Modi's surprise visit on Friday comes 19 months after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's flew to India and 11 years and 11 months and 20 days after Vajpayee's visit to Pakistan.

Jung said Modi was the only Indian prime minister to have visited the private residence of a Pakistani prime minister.

Modi halted in Lahore for about two hours on his way from Kabul and discussed bilateral issues with Sharif in an attempt to resume the stalled peace process between the two countries.

IANS