In a tit-for-tat response, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday, in a brief post on X, thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his congratulatory message following his election as the country’s premier.
“Thank you @narendramodi for felicitations on my election as the Prime Minister of Pakistan,” Shehbaz wrote on his official X account.
The Indian premier had congratulated PM Shehbaz on assuming the charge of prime minister on Tuesday but his brief post on X apparently carried a ‘quiet’ message for Pakistan.
Modi, who is nearing his second term as prime minister, previously congratulated Imran Khan and Shehbaz Sharif in August 2018 and April 2022 respectively.
In fact, he spoke to then prime minister Imran when he got elected as the country’s chief executive. He also invited Nawaz Sharif in May 2014 to attend his swearing in ceremony along with other South Asian leaders.
But what was different this time is that Modi’s statement was not only brief but he made no mention of any desire for normalising ties or seeking peace with Pakistan.
“Congratulations to @CMShehbaz on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan,” he wrote on X.
