Modi's visit a positive gesture to improve bilateral ties: ANP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Pakistan is a positive gesture as a direct contact between top leaders of the two countries will help remove misunderstandings and resolve bilateral issues, the Awami National Party (ANP) has said.
ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan said high-level meetings between Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif will help boost peace, prosperity and economic development in the region.
Such meetings will also help remove misunderstandings and resolve bilateral issues, he said.
Emphasising upon the visit by parliamentary delegations of the two countries and strengthening of people-to-people contacts, the ANP leader said such trust-building measures are needed to promote friendship between the two neighbours.

Khan, in a statement, urged the two leaders to utilise resources available to them to eradicate poverty and economic uplift, rather than for confrontation.
Modi made a brief visit to Lahore on Sharif's 66th birthday to wish him and also attend Sharif's granddaughter's marriage. The visit came during Modi's return home from Kabul.
ANP, officially formed in 1986 as a conglomeration of several left-leaning parties, is a Pashtun nationalist party, drawing its strength mainly from the Pashtun-majority areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
It is also active in the urban areas of Sindh province and elsewhere.