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By Dolly Chingakham: Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto’s India visit has been marred by a terror attack that claimed the lives of five Indian Army jawans in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri. The incident has reignited fears that such high-profile visits between India and Pakistan are often followed by acts of cross-border terrorism. Here’s a look at some of the high-profile visits and what followed next.
Kargil War
In February 1999, Atal Bihari Vajpayee travelled to Pakistan on a bus during its inaugural run and was received by his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif. However, soon after, the Kargil War broke out between May and July 1999, in which Indian forces suffered 527 casualties and 1,363 injuries.
India Parliament attack
The Agra Summit in July 2001 was a historic summit between then-PM Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharaf. However, in December of the same year, Parliament was attacked, claiming the lives of around 14 people, by militants affiliated with JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
26/11
In 2008, the then-foreign minister of Pakistan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, was in Delhi when the Mumbai attacks took place. Pranab Mukherjee, who was then the external affairs minister, wrote in his autobiography that he interrupted Qureshi’s press conference by calling a journalist and informing him that he should leave India immediately in the wake of the terror strike in Mumbai.
“Mr Minister, no purpose will be served by your continuing to stay in India in these circumstances. My official aircraft is available to take you back home. It would be desirable if a decision is taken as quickly as possible,” Mukherjee told the minister.
Pathankot Attack
In December 2015, PM Modi made a surprise stopover to Lahore and met Nawaz Sharif, marking the first time an Indian prime minister had visited Pakistan in more than a decade. However, barely a week later, the Pathankot terror attack took place on January 2, 2016, in which six armed terrorists infiltrated the Pathankot Air Base, causing the death of around seven Indian soldiers.
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