Looking forward to meeting PM Nawaz Sharif in Lahore today afternoon, where I will drop by on my way back to Delhi. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 25, 2015

Modi in Lahore: this will be the first time an Indian PM will set foot in Pakistan in 12 years. Vajpayee visited last in 2004 @timesofindia — Sachin Parashar (@sachinpTOI) December 25, 2015

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Pakistan on Friday afternoon - his first visit to the country - where he is expected to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the way back from Kabul."Looking forward to meeting PM Nawaz Sharif in Lahore today afternoon, where I will drop by on my way back to Delhi," Modi tweeted, taking the Indian media by surprise by announcing an unscheduled meeting with the Pakistani leader on Twitter."Spoke to PM Nawaz Sharif & wished him on his birthday ," Modi said in another tweet. ​Modi will be the first Indian prime minister to visit Pakistan after Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2004.The sudden announcement of the meeting with Sharif is consistent with Modi's recent out-of-the-box diplomacy with Pakistan away from the media glare.The relations between India and Pakistan have witnessed some positive developments after chill for several months. The two countries recently decided to launch a comprehensive dialogue after Modi and Sharif met in Paris.Last month, amid furious speculation, Modi and Sharif shook hands and held a two-minute meeting on the sidelines of the Paris climate summit. Shortly after that meeting, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj visited Islamabad for a multilateral conference.Moments before his surprise tweet, Modi had launched a veiled attack on Pakistan, saying Afghanistan will succeed only when terrorism "no longer flows across the border" and when "nurseries and sanctuaries of terrorism are shut".Without naming Pakistan, Modi said in his 40-minute address to Afghan lawmakers, "There are some who did not want us to be here. There were those who saw sinister designs in our presence here. There are others who were uneasy at the strength of our partnership."Modi was in Kabul to inaugurate the new Afghan parliament built by India.