New Delhi: Pakistan’s newly appointed Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood, who was envoy to India and arrived here on a private visit, offered Eid prayers at historic Jama Masjid here on Wednesday.

Sources said Mr Mahmood arrived here on Tuesday night and is here essentially to take his family along, back to Pakistan.

Mr Mahmood was Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India before he assumed charge of the Foreign Secretary after he was handpicked for the top post by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in April.

The diplomatic relation between India and Pakistan had suffered set back after Pulwama attack.

Sources said Mahmood is scheduled to return to Pakistan on Friday along with his family.

After elections in India, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 26 spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi phone.

According to an MEA statement, “Prime Minister (Modi) thanked the Prime Minister of Pakistan for his telephone call and greetings. Recalling his initiatives in line with his government’s neighbourhood first policy, Prime Minister Modi referred to his earlier suggestion to the Prime Minister of Pakistan to fight poverty jointly”.

“He (Modi) stressed that creating trust and an environment free of violence and terrorism were essential for fostering cooperation for peace, progress and prosperity in our region,” the statement had said.

Both the Prime Ministers will be attending Shanghai Cooperation Organzation (SCO) summit in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek on June 13-14 but it is not confirmed on whether they will have any meeting on the sidelines of the Summit