On Dec. 25, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sprang a Christmas surprise by dropping in for tea with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The impromptu meeting was a much-needed reminder of just why Indians voted so massively for Modi in the 2014 general election as a bold, decisive and courageous leader who would cut through decades of accumulated cobwebs to shake up the country's domestic and foreign policy settings alike.
Modi becomes the first Indian prime minister to set foot on Pakistani soil since Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2004. Dec. 25 happens to be Nawaz Sharif's birthday, and also that of Vajpayee, the last Indian leader to have met a Pakistani prime minister — none other than Sharif. Indeed the latter has the unusual distinction of having met every Indian prime minister since 1990.
Modi was on a two-day visit to Afghanistan on his way back from an official visit to Russia. After an eloquent and emotional address in the new $90 million national parliament custom-built by India, Modi telephoned from his car to congratulate Sharif on his 66th birthday and asked where he was. Sharif said he was in Lahore for granddaughter Mehrunissa's wedding and invited Modi to drop by while overflying Pakistan on the return journey to Delhi.