Pakistan PM salutes Indian leader Modi on taking oath for 3rd term

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday congratulated archrival India's Narendra Modi on being sworn in as prime minister for a third term, in the first response by Islamabad to election results across the border.

"Felicitations to @narendramodi on taking oath as the Prime Minister of India," Sharif said in a post on X, a day after Modi was sworn in and nearly a week after election results were declared on June 4.

Modi secured a record-equaling third term but lost his outright majority and is dependent on regional parties for support in his first coalition government.

Nuclear-armed rivals and neighbors India and Pakistan have fought three wars, including two over control of the disputed Kashmir region in the Himalayas.

Ties between the two have been frozen since India ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir state in 2019 and split it into two federally administered territories.

They came closer to yet another war when India launched airstrikes inside Pakistan to target what it said was a militants' sanctuary.

New Delhi invited leaders of seven regional countries to Sunday's grand inauguration at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, or president's palace, in New Delhi but Sharif wasn't included.

"Thank you @cmshehbaz for your good wishes," responded Modi in a post on X.

Sharif's elder brother and former three-time prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, also congratulated Modi.

"Your party's success in recent elections reflects the confidence of the people in your leadership. Let us replace hate with hope and seize the opportunity to shape the destiny of the two billion people of South Asia," he said in a post on X.

The elder Sharif has always been a proponent of peace with India, which is said to be one