ISLAMABAD: After his historic return to the Prime Minister's Office for the third time, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was felicitated by PM Shehbaz Sharif today.
Congratulating his Indian counterpart on assuming the coveted post, PM Shehbaz took to X, formerly Twitter, to extend felicitation.
"Felicitations to @narendramodi on taking oath as the Prime Minister of India," the premier wrote.
The Pakistani premier's congratulatory message for Modi came a day after he took oath as prime minister for the third consecutive time, only the second person after former Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru to serve a third straight term as premier.
Modi was sworn in as premier on Sunday for a record-equalling third term but this time his Bharatiya Janata Party is not in a strong position, which will test his ability to ensure policy certainty in the world's most populous nation.
In response to PM Shehbaz's post, Modi thanked the 72-year-old saying: "Thankyou [Shehbaz Sharif] for your good wishes."
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Modi at a grand ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the president's palace in New Delhi, attended by thousands of dignitaries, including the leaders of seven regional countries, Bollywood stars and industrialists.
The 73-year-old also responded to the felicitation by former premier Nawaz Sharif. Modi stated on his post on X: "Appreciate your message [Nawaz Sharif]. The people of India have always stood for peace, security and progressive ideas. Advancing the well-being and security of our people shall always remain our priority."
The 73-year-old Modi, who started as a publicist of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of his BJP, secured the third term in elections that concluded on June 1 with the support of 14 regional parties in his BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), unlike in the previous two terms when his party won an outright majority.
The outcome is seen as a big setback to the popular leader as surveys and exit polls had predicted BJP would secure even more seats than in 2019.
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