Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a letter to PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif last month, extending ‘heartfelt condolences’ to Pakistan’s former premier over his mother’s death on 22 November, a Pakistani media report said on Thursday.
The letter was forwarded to Sharif’s daughter and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad last week with a request to be conveyed to her father, who has been residing in London since last year, Dawn newspaper reported.
In the letter dated 27 November, Prime Minister Modi conveyed his ‘heartfelt condolences’ to Sharif over his mother’s death.
“Dear Mian Sahib, I am deeply saddened to learn about the demise of your mother Begum Shamim Akhtar on 22 November in London. My heartfelt condolences are with you in this hour of intense grief,” Modi wrote in the letter, which was also released by the PML-N on Thursday.
Prime Minister Modi recalled his interaction with Sharif’s mother during his brief surprise visit to Lahore in 2015, saying: ‘Her simplicity and warmth was indeed very touching’.
“In this moment of profound grief, I pray to the Almighty to bestow strength upon you and your family to bear this irreparable loss,” he added.
In a separate letter sent to Maryam on 11 December at her Lahore residence, Indian Charge d’Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia requested her to convey the condolence message to Nawaz in London, the paper said.
Sharif’s mother Begum Shamim Akhtar died in Britain on 22 November. Her body was later flown to Pakistan and she was buried at the family’s Jati Umra estate in Lahore.
