Modi woos Muslim nations for 2013 investors’ meet

In the last two editions of the biennial summit,Japan and Canada were the partner countries.

“Formal invitations have been sent to the UAE,Oman,Saudi Arabia,Dubai,Turkey and Indonesia for the event. A delegation of senior bureaucrats and industry leaders will be shortly visiting these countries,” a senior official from the industries department told The Indian Express.

“The chief minister is very keen to get a favorable response from Pakistan for the event,” said another official requesting anonymity.

The official said that in less then five months,two major Pakistani business delegations have visited the state,and Modi had welcomed them “very warmly”.

“In mid-December,office-bearers of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce met Modi at his Gandhinagar residence. The delegation not only invited Modi to Pakistan,but it also wanted him to address the corporate heads of Pakistan on the ‘Gujarat model’ of development through videoconferencing,” the official added.

Last month,a trade delegation led by senior vice-president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry Younus Muhammad Bashir Orawala had visited Surat.

During a national function of Indian Association of Tour Operators at Gandhinagar in September 2011,Modi had urged the Centre to relax visa process for Pakistani tourists wanting to visit Ajmer Sharif shrine in Rajasthan.