Please Have Tea with Me, Sharif Told Modi

Lahore, Dec 26 (IANS) "Please come, you are our guest. Please come and have tea with me." This is what Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said when his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi called him from Kabul and asked if he could halt in Lahore on his way home.

Modi telephoned Sharif after having visited Russia and when he was still in Afghanistan. That is when Sharif decided to be a hospitable host, The Nation newspaper reported on Saturday.

And Modi unexpectedly landed in Lahore to wish his counterpart on his 66th birthday, it said.

Sharif, who was busy during the weekend for his granddaughter Mehrun Nisas wedding at his Jati Umra residence, "had the event graced by Modis presence. Sharifs family welcomed the visiting prime minister".

In the process, the special transmission arrangements of the Pakistani media covering the birthday of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah were eclipsed by the Modi sojourn, the Nation said.