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With Imran Khan preparing to take oath as the next PM of Pakistan, there have been reports about former Indian cricket stars Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Navjot Singh Sidhu being on the guest list. As also Bollywood celebrity Aamir Khan. Although speculations were rife that Khan was also looking to invite Indian PM Narendra Modi for his swearing-in, the tantalising possibility of such a photo-op has been quashed. Nonetheless, the very fact that Khan was planning to invite his Indian cricket contemporaries and friends indicates some willingness to script a fresh chapter in India-Pakistan ties. But the two countries have been here before. After former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif attended Modi's swearing-in ceremony in 2014, there were similar hopes that the two countries would chart a new modus vivendi. However, things quickly took a downward turn thereafter until the surprise Modi stopover in Pakistan in December 2015 appeared to provide a huge fillip to the engagement process. Then it was the terror attack on India's Pathankot airbase in January 2016 and the Uri terror attack on an Indian army base in September of that year impelling the Indian military to conduct retaliatory surgical strikes across the LoC that seriously (and understandably) soured the mood. Add to this the role of agents from across the border in the widespread unrest in Kashmir following militant Burhan Wani's death in the summer of 2016, and the engagement process once again came off the rails. It's against this backdrop that Khan takes over as the new Pakistan PM. And while he has talked about boosting trade with India, he has also stuck to the Pakistan army's position of Kashmir being the core issue in bilateral relations. Given that Rawalpindi GHQ is the real author of Pakistan's India policy, it will be interesting to see how Khan manages the generals. That said, Khan's connections with India are better than most in Pakistan. He has an opportunity to break the mould in bilateral ties. Telephoning Khan to congratulate him Modi reportedly said, “We are ready to enter a new era of relations with Pakistan.” Khan talked a moderate line in his victory speech too but none of this can paper over how his party flirted with radical positions during the campaign. So New Delhi will be cautiously optimistic. With Imran Khan preparing to take oath as the next PM of Pakistan, there have been reports about former Indian cricket stars Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Navjot Singh Sidhu being on the guest list. As also Bollywood celebrity Aamir Khan. Although speculations were rife that Khan was also looking to invite Indian PM Narendra Modi for his swearing-in, the tantalising possibility of such a photo-op has

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