Polls 2014: Obama sends invite, Camaroon congratulates and Shariff wishes well
17 May 2014
US President Barack Obama on Friday made a customary phone call to congratulate prime minister-elect Narendra Modi and invite him to visit Washington, the White House said.
Obama opted to bury the past visa ban on Modi and said he looked forward to working closely with him to "fulfill the extraordinary promise of the US-India strategic partnership," a White House statement said.
"The president invited Narendra Modi to visit Washington at a mutually agreeable time to further strengthen our bilateral relationship," the statement added.
British Prime Minister David Cameron called Narendra Modi to congratulate him on his election success after the BJP's landslide victory on Friday, the British embassy in New Delhi said.
Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif also telephoned Modi on Friday and congratulated him over his and his party's victory in the general elections.
The Dawn quoted official sources as saying that during the conversation, the Pakistan prime minister also greeted the Indian people over what he called the successful culmination of the polls.
''Prime minister Nawaz Sharif also wished that BJP's victory would promote peace and stability to the region,'' advisor to the PM, Sartaj Aziz said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Modi, secured the most decisive mandate with a clear majority of 284 on its own in Parliament, making Modi the strongest leader since Indira Gandhi who was assassinated in 1984.
Indira Gandhi's son Rajiv Gandhi won the general election that followed her assassination with a thumping 400 seat mandate. However, since 1989, no party could receive a clear majority, forcing parties to form coalitions.
