NEW DELHI, March 5, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi
congratulated Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday for his return
to the premiership, a rare expression of goodwill between leaders of the two
nuclear-armed rivals.

Sharif was officially sworn in Monday as prime minister for a second time
after a poll marred by claims of widespread vote rigging.

The 72-year-old's army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-L) has formed
a coalition government with their historic rival the Pakistan Peoples Party
(PPP) and several smaller factions that shuts out loyalists of jailed former
prime minister Imran Khan, who won the most seats.

"Congratulations to @CMShehbaz on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of
Pakistan," Modi said in a post on social media platform X.

India and Pakistan are bitter adversaries with longstanding political
tensions.

The two nations have fought three wars and numerous smaller skirmishes since
being carved out of the subcontinent's partition in 1947.

But Sharif is seen in India as more conciliatory toward New Delhi than his
predecessor Khan.

Unusually for a senior Pakistani politician, Sharif visited India in 2013
when he was chief minister of Pakistan's influential Punjab province.

He visited his family's ancestral village on the Indian side of the frontier
and met with then-prime minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, along with
other officials.

Modi also attended a Sharif family wedding during a surprise trip to Pakistan
in 2015, a year after the Hindu nationalist leader took office.

He was hosted by Sharif's elder brother Nawaz, himself prime minister at the
time.

Hindu nationalist sentiment has risen in India under Modi, a populist leader
seeking a third term in office in general elections expected from April.

The two countries downgraded their diplomatic ties during Khan's premiership
in 2019 after a dispute over India's attempt to entrench its grip over the
part of Kashmir it controls.

The Himalayan region, home to a long-running and deadly insurgency against
Indian rule, is divided between the two countries and claimed by both in
full.