India's Modi congratulates new Pakistan PM Sharif

Sharif was officially sworn in Monday as prime minister for a second timeafter a poll marred by claims of widespread vote rigging.
The 72-year-old's army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-L) has formeda coalition government with their historic rival the Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP) and several smaller factions that shuts out loyalists of jailed formerprime minister Imran Khan, who won the most seats.
"Congratulations to @CMShehbaz on being sworn in as the Prime Minister ofPakistan," Modi said in a post on social media platform X.
India and Pakistan are bitter adversaries with longstanding politicaltensions.
The two nations have fought three wars and numerous smaller skirmishes sincebeing carved out of the subcontinent's partition in 1947.
But Sharif is seen in India as more conciliatory toward New Delhi than hispredecessor Khan.
Unusually for a senior Pakistani politician, Sharif visited India in 2013when he was chief minister of Pakistan's influential Punjab province.
He visited his family's ancestral village on the Indian side of the frontierand met with then-prime minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, along withother officials.
Modi also attended a Sharif family wedding during a surprise trip to Pakistanin 2015, a year after the Hindu nationalist leader took office.
He was hosted by Sharif's elder brother Nawaz, himself prime minister at thetime.
Hindu nationalist sentiment has risen in India under Modi, a populist leaderseeking a third term in office in general elections expected from April.
The two countries downgraded their diplomatic ties during Khan's premiershipin 2019 after a dispute over India's attempt to entrench its grip over thepart of Kashmir it controls, reports BSS.
The Himalayan region, home to a long-running and deadly insurgency againstIndian rule, is divided between the two countries and claimed by both infull.