Pakistan said on Friday it wanted “cooperative relations” with all its neighbours, including India, ahead of the inauguration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pakistan’s foreign ministry insisted it wanted to resolve disputes through talks.
But a Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman appeared equivocal when asked why the country was not congratulating Narendra Modi on his election victory.
Replying to the question, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said it was the right of the people of India to decide about their own leadership.
He said India does not comment on the Indian election process and that it is “premature” to talk about congratulating Narendra Modi as the country is in the process of forming a government.
Referring to BJP leaders mocking Pakistan in their election speeches, she asserted that Pakistan was behaving responsibly despite the “rhetoric from India”.
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Following the BJP emerging as the single largest party in India’s general elections, several countries, including the United States, have congratulated Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration ceremony tomorrow will be attended by leaders of seven neighbouring countries.
But no customary message has come from Pakistan.
When Imran Khan’s party, the PTI, became the largest party in 2018, Modi had congratulated him before he became prime minister.
Earlier this year, PM Modi congratulated Shehbaz Sharif on becoming Pakistan’s prime minister.
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Pakistan has downgraded its ties with India after the Indian parliament suspended Article 370 of the Indian Constitution in the former state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian government maintains that the decision in the former state is India’s internal matter.
Relations between India and Pakistan deteriorated following the Pulwama terror attack, after which the Indian government launched air strikes on terror camps in Balakot.
New Delhi insists it wants normal ties with Pakistan on the condition that Pakistan stops cross-border terrorism emanating from its territory.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won 293 seats. The opposition coalition won 234 seats.
