Nepal, Pokhara: On Thursday, adviser to the Pakistan Prime Minister (PM) on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz formally extended an invitation Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the Pakistan-hosted 19th Saarc summit which is to be held later this year.  ANI reported, Sartaj handed the invitation over to Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the 37th Saarc Council of Ministers Meeting.

The two dignitaries then held a one-to-one meeting in the evening, the first after the Jan 2 terrorist attack on the Pathankot air base. Talking to media after the meeting, Swaraj said a Pakistani joint investigation team probing the Pathankot terror attack will visit India on March 27 and begin work the next day, the Hindustan Times reported. She said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accepted Aziz’s invitation to attend the Saarc Summit in Islamabad in November this year.

Sartaj and Swaraj chatted while sitting next to each other at the breakfast hosted by Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa. They were also seen standing separately and talking informally for a few minutes. On Wednesday night, the two exchanged pleasantries at a dinner hosted by Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. The two were seated next to each other and talked at length.