ISLAMABAD: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the people of India had always stood for “peace and progressive ideas,” in response to an X message this week by former three-time Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif to congratulate the Indian leader on becoming premier for a third time.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his elder brother and former three-time prime minister Nawaz greeted Modi in posts on the social media platform within hours of each other, in what was Pakistan’s first response to the election results from across the border.
“Your party’s success in recent elections reflects the confidence of the people in your leadership. Let us replace hate with hope and seize the opportunity to shape the destiny of the two billion people of South Asia,” Nawaz said in one post.
Modi responded:
“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.”
New Delhi invited leaders of seven regional countries to Sunday’s grand inauguration at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, or president’s palace, in New Delhi but Sharif wasn’t included.
A few hours after Shehbaz Sharif had wished him well, Modi responded on X: “Thank you @cmshehbaz for your good wishes.”
The elder Sharif has always been a proponent of peace with India, which is widely believed to be one of the main reasons he fell out with his country’s powerful military in his last tenure from 2013 to 2017. In 2015, Modi made a surprise stopover in Pakistan to meet Nawaz, then prime minister, the first time an Indian premier has visited the rival nation in over a decade.
The visit, requested by Modi just hours earlier before he flew back home from Afghanistan, raised hopes that stop-and-start negotiations between the nuclear-armed neighbors might finally make progress after three wars and more than 65 years of hostility.
Nuclear-armed rivals and neighbors India and Pakistan have fought three wars, including two over control of the disputed Kashmir region in the Himalayas.
Ties between the two have been frozen since India ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir state in 2019 and split it into two federally administered territories.
They came closer to yet another war when India launched air strikes inside Pakistan to target what it said was a militants’ sanctuary in 2019. Islamabad denies Indian accusations it harbors militants.
Analysts don’t see any chance of peace talks between the two sides anytime soon, however.
“Modi is not ready as yet,” said author and defense analyst Ayesha Siddiqa. The two sides have some backdoor diplomatic initiatives, however, which may be a “a gentle start.”
With inputs from Reuters
