‘Let’s replace hate with hope’: Nawaz Sharif congratulates PM Modi on 3rd term.

Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif’s elder brother Nawaz Sharif, a three-time former premier and head of the ruling PML-N, was more effusive in his message. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and former premier Nawaz Sharif on Monday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on beginning his third term in the top office, the first formal reaction from Pakistan to the formation of a new government in India. Pakistan had so far held off on sending a message to Modi on his election victory, with the foreign office spokesperson saying last Friday it would be “premature” to talk of sending such a message as the process of forming a government was ongoing. “Felicitations to @narendramodi on taking oath as the Prime Minister of India,” Sharif said in a brief post on X, a day after Modi and his council of ministers took oath on Sunday. Sharif’s elder brother Nawaz Sharif, a three-time former premier and head of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), was more effusive in his message on X. “My warm felicitations to Modi Ji (@narendramodi) on assuming office for the third time. Your party’s success in recent elections reflects the confidence of the people in your leadership,” said Nawaz Sharif, who as the prime minister of Pakistan attended Modi’s first inauguration in 2014. “Let us replace hate with hope and seize the opportunity to shape the destiny of the two billion people of South Asia.” Modi responded to Shehbaz Sharif’s message through a post on X that said: “Thank you @cmshehbaz for your good wishes.” Pakistan was among the countries invited to Modi’s first inauguration in 2014 but bilateral relations went into a deep freeze following a string of terror attacks, including the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing that killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans and brought both countries to the brink of conflict. After India scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir the same year, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties. The Indian side also hasn’t received any message from the top leadership of China, including President Xi Jinping. On Saturday, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal responded to a congratulatory message from his Chinese counterpart by saying India will make efforts to normalise ties with China on the basis of “mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity”.