Pakistan's prime minister-in-waiting Imran Khan will not invite Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his oath-taking ceremony.
Ever since the Pakistan election was over, the putative attendance of Modi at the swearing-in ceremony was the talking point in diplomatic circles. Modi had famously invited Nawaz Sharif, then Pak prime minister, to his swearing-in ceremony in 2014.
After Imran took lead in the elections, the observers of India-Pak relations were obsessed with the chances of Modi attending the inauguration of his government in Islamabad.
Modi's invitation to Sharif was criticised back home after the bilateral relations deteriorated in the aftermath of daring terror attacks sponsored by Pakistan inside Indian territory that followed it. This gave rise to doubts if Modi would actually attend the event if he were to be invited.
On the other side, Imran had to be cautious about inviting Modi as a rejection would undermine his fledgling international role.
Now, all the speculations about the participation of foreign leaders have been laid to rest, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported.
"The PTI chairman has directed to stage the oath-taking event with austerity ... He will take his oath in a simple ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr (President House)," PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said, according to the paper.
"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," the spokeman added.
This also means that other Indian celebrities who were already invited by Imran won't attend the ceremony either. Earlier reports said Imran had invited cricketers Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Navjot Sidhu and actor Aamir Khan.
