Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, June 10, a day after the Sunday oath-taking ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
“Felicitations to Narendra Modi on taking oath as the Prime Minister of India,” Shehbaz Sharif said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
This is the first official message from the Prime Minister of Pakistan after PM Modi took charge of the PMO office in Delhi on Monday. Sharif, the only prime minister from India's neighbourhood who wasn't invited to the swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi, took to X to wish his counterpart on his return from China, Pakistan's all-weather ally.
Last week, when a reporter asked why Pakistan did not extend greetings to PM Narendra Modi, its Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said, "Since the new government hasn’t officially been sworn in, it is premature to talk about congratulating the Indian Prime Minister."
India had invited the head of Asian courtiers, including Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, Vice President of Seychelles, Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and Nepal PM Kamal Dahal Prachanda.
President of India Droupadi Murmu hosted a banquet on Sunday in honour of the leaders of neighbouring countries attending the swearing-in ceremony of the Prime Minister of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan.