India, Pakistan to open new chapter in ties: Nawaz Sharif

NEW DELHI, May 26, (AFP): Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the inauguration of Narendra Modi as his Indian counterpart Monday was a "great opportunity" for the two nuclear neighbours to open a new chapter in relations.
"It is a great moment and a great opportunity," Sharif, who is in New Delhi as a guest for the swearing-in ceremony, told the NDTV network.
"This is a chance to reach out to each other. Both governments have a strong mandate," he added, according to a transcript provided by the Pakistan High Commission.
"This could help in turning a new page in our relations."
Sharif is the first Pakistani prime minister to attend the inauguration of an Indian leader since the creation of the two countries in 1947 after the end of British colonial rule.
The two countries have since fought three wars and remain bitterly divided over the disputed region of Kashmir.
But Sharif, who is to hold bilateral talks with Modi on Tuesday, said that the neighbours should use their common heritage to help overcome their differences.
"No two nations have ever possessed so much of cultural and traditional similarities as India and Pakistan. Why not turn the similarities into our strength?" said Sharif.
"We should remove fears, mistrust and misgivings about each other.
Meanwhile: Indian police fired tear gas to break up clashes between Hindu and Muslim mobs in Narendra Modi's heartland of Gujarat on the eve of his swearing in as prime minister, officials said Monday.
Angry crowds set fire to several shops and vehicles and pelted stones at each other during the clashes in western Gujarat state's main city of Ahmedabad on Sunday night, police and fire officials said.
Ahmedabad joint police commissioner Manoj Shashidhar said officers fired tear gas to halt the violence which left four people injured.
Shashidhar said an investigation was under way into the clashes which appear to have started when two cars from the different communities crashed in an accident during a marriage procession.
"The incident flared up following a petty argument between people of two communities on Sunday night in Gomtipur area of the city. The situation was immediately brought under control," Shashidhar told AFP.
The incident escalated when mobs set property on fire, Ahmedabad chief fire officer M.S Dastur told AFP.
"Some three shops, one mini-bus and a couple of two wheelers were burnt during the incident," Dastur said.