New Delhi: A day after the oath-taking ceremony at the precincts of Rashtrapati Bhawan, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended a brief congratulatory message to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but his elder brother and president of the ruling party, Nawaz Sharif offered a more expansive message calling for replacing “hate with hope”.
The Indian Prime Minister responded that the top priority will be the “well-being and security of our people.”
Unlike other leaders, Sharif waited till the formal swearing-in ceremony was over on Sunday to send his congratulations nearly a week after the results came in. Modi returned as Prime Minister for a rare third term, but for the first time as the head of a coalition government that is dependent on its allies.
In his first official comment, Sharif posted a one-line tweet on his Twitter account, “Felicitations to Narendra Modi on taking oath as the prime minister of India”.
A few hours later, Modi simply replied after a few hours, “Thank you Shehbaz Sharif for your good wishes”.
Thank you @cmshehbaz for your good wishes. https://t.co/ynBdjxHJmZ
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 10, 2024
The interaction on social media was an exact mirror of their similar succinct encounter on the same platform in March, when Modi congratulated Shehbaz Sharif who was sworn in after weeks of uncertainty following the surprising results of the Pakistani general elections.
In contrast, Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister and PML (N) president posted a much more generous congratulations on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
After stating that the mandate reflected “confidence” in Modi’s leadership, he added, “Let us replace hate with hope and seize the opportunity to shape the destiny of the two billion people of South Asia.”
It was an explicit call for outreach between the two South Asian countries, which have had minimal official contact for several years.
The Indian PM’s reply did not indicate that there was an appetite for an immediate move for thawing of ties with Pakistan, despite the more verbose response.
“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,” posted Modi.
Appreciate your message @NawazSharifMNS. 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. https://t.co/PKK47YKAog
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 10, 2024
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The reference to ‘security’ twice in the tweet was the Indian PM’s signalling that New Delhi remains strong on its stance on terrorism. A day earlier, just as Modi was being sworn in, terrorists fired on a bus carrying pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir, killing at least nine people.
After India diluted the special constitutional status of Kashmir in August 2019, Pakistan suspended bilateral trade relations and downgraded diplomatic relations, which have still not been restored.
Another country with whom Modi acknowledged congratulations was the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Thank you @CanadianPM for the congratulatory message. India looks forward to working with Canada based on mutual understanding and respect for each others concerns. https://t.co/QQJFngoMyH
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 10, 2024
While discharging their protocol duties of issuing and accepting congratulations, both the prime ministers of Canada and India stuck to their talking points and did not show any accelerated sign of reconciliation.
While Canadian PM Justin Trudeau referred to the need to base relations on human rights and the rule of law, Modi’s reply spoke of the need for “mutual understanding and respect for each other’s concerns”.
Last September, Trudeau had accused Indian government agents of being potentially involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was proscribed as a Khalistani terrorist by India. Since then, relations went into a deep freeze, with India asking Canada to remove over 40 of its diplomats from its missions. India had also suspended visa operations for Canadians, but it was resumed after a month.
