On Day 1, new PM has wall-to-wall meetings with SAARC leaders

Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi will have one-to-one bilateral meetings with leaders and representatives of all the seven South Asian nations invited to the swearing-in ceremony and Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam at Hyderabad House on Tuesday.

President Pranab Mukherjee will also hold eight separate meetings with these leaders.

The eight leaders whom the President and Prime Minister will meet are: Presidents Hamid Karzai (Afghanistan), Abdullah Yameen (Maldives), Mahinda Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka); Prime Ministers Tshering Tobgay (Bhutan), Navin Ramgoolam (Mauritius), Sushil Koirala (Nepal), Nawaz Sharif (Pakistan); and Bangladesh Speaker Shirin Sharmeen Chaudhury.

Official sources told

The Hindu  on Sunday that as per protocol, the Presidents would be met first, then the Prime Ministers, in alphabetical order, and finally Bangladesh Speaker Shirin Sharmeen Chaudhury, who is filling in for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. 

Meeting with Sharif

Mr. Modi’s meeting with Mr. Sharif is expected to happen around noon on Tuesday, the Ministry spokesman said, adding that the new Indian Prime Minister would begin his meetings at 9.30 a.m. President Pranab Mukherjee’s meetings, on the other hand, are expected to commence at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. 

Sources said that Mr. Chaudhury and Mr. Tshering Tobgay arrived here on Sunday while the other six would all fly in on Monday. Mr. Sharif will be accompanied by his son Hussain Sharif, National Security and Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.