ISLAMABAD: In Islamabad’s latest overture of peace, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan made a congratulatory phone call to India’s newly re-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, Pakistan’s foreign office spokesman said in a Twitter post.

“PM spoke to PM Modi today and congratulated him on his party’s electoral victory in Lok Sabha elections in India.

PM expressed his desire for both countries to work together for betterment of their peoples,” he tweeted.

In a separate post, he said, “Reiterating his vision for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia, the Prime Minister said he looked forward to working with Prime Minister Modi to advance these objectives.”

Earlier, on Thursday, the Pakistani and Indian prime ministers exchanged messages via Twitter hoping for peace, after Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power in New Delhi in an election fought after a campaign centered heavily on national security and anti-Pakistan rhetoric, in the wake of a confrontation between the nuclear-armed enemies.

Khan said he was ready to cooperate with the government as it resumed office: “I congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies,” he said in a Twitter post. “Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia.”

Modi replied by thanking Khan, saying he had “always given primacy to peace and development in our region.”

The exchange between Khan and Modi followed months of tensions between the two countries after a suicide attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir by a Pakistan based militant group killed 40 members of an Indian paramilitary police force in February.

Retaliatory strikes between the nuclear-armed rivals led to a dogfight in the skies over Kashmir during which an Indian pilot was shot down, captured and later released as a sign of goodwill.

But on Thursday, as it became clear that Modi’s ultra-right, Hindu nationalist BJP was on course to win the Indian general election, Pakistan announced that it had conducted the training launch of a ballistic missile capable of delivering conventional and nuclear weapons at a range of up to 1,500 miles.

On Saturday, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Islamabad was ready to hold talks with the newly elected Indian government on all outstanding issues.

Addressing an Iftar dinner in his hometown of Multan, Qureshi said both neighboring countries should sit around the negotiating table to solve issues for the sake of regional prosperity.

A day before the BJP win, Qureshi also had an informal meeting with his Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.

Following the encounter, he said, “We want to live like good neighbors and settle our outstanding issues through talks.”