NEW DELHI, December 25: Despite New Delhi’s fraught relations with Islamabad, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his 67th birthday today (Sunday).
“Birthday wishes to Pakistan PM Mr. Nawaz Sharif. I pray for his long and healthy life,” PM Modi tweeted.
Last year on this day, Modi had made a huge gesture by travelling to Lahore on an unscheduled visit to wish Nawaz Sharif personally and attend the marriage ceremony of his relative.
Modi and Sharif have had a stop-start diplomatic relationship since the Indian premier’s surprise invitation to Sharif to his inauguration in May 2014. However, initial optimism about a revival of ties was short-lived as the two countries traded heavy fire across their disputed border in the Himalayan territory of Kashmir which claimed dozens of lives on both sides. – Agencies
