Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan, who is poised to become the nation’s 19th Prime Minister has invited prominent Indian cricketers like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, and Navjot Singh Sidhu along with Bollywood actor Aamir Khan to his oath-taking ceremony on August 11.
Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged as the largest party after the general elections of July 25 but has still have fallen short of the magic figure of 137 required for a majority in the assembly, to form the government. His party is however in talks with other political parties and independent candidates, urging them to join PTI in forming a historic coalition central government, the party’s spokesperson Fawad Chaudhary confirmed on Wednesday.
He also rubbished reports about Khan considering of inviting the leaders of SAARC countries including India Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the oath ceremony. Foreign dignitaries will only be invited after consulting with the Pakistan Foreign Office, he had tweeted.
“Media speculations about international dignitaries attending PM oath ceremony are not correct. We have sought the advice of the Foreign Office on the matter and will decide accordingly #PTI,” he wrote on Twitter.
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Imran during his time as a cricketer had faced the Dev and Gavaskar led India on both home and away series. Considered to be among two of the best all-rounders of the game both Dev and Khan were fierce rivals on the field but enjoyed a great camaraderie off it.
India PM Modi had on Monday, congratulated Imran for his party’s victory in the national elections and also hoped that “Pakistan and India will work to open a new chapter in bilateral ties.”
The former cricketer in reply had thanked Modi for his wishes and also reiterated that disputes between both the countries will be resolved through mutual cooperation. He had also numerous times during the election campaign and also in his first speech after declaring victory, had spoken about the benefits of a better bilateral relationship between India and Pakistan.