Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Tuesday that his country wants to “find a solution to the problem of cross-border terrorism” with Pakistan.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in for a record third term at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday, reaffirming his government’s “environment first” policy at the presidential palace in New Delhi, attended by the leaders of seven regional countries.
But relations and issues with China and Pakistan have been different, Jaishankar told reporters after taking office for a second term.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated his brother and former Prime Minister Nawaz in his first response to Pakistan’s cross-border election results.
The exchange was initiated by Prime Minister Shehbaz, who posted a heartfelt congratulatory message World War II: “Congratulations to @narendramodi on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of India.”
The brief message was reminiscent of a similar note the Prime Minister sent him in March. The Prime Minister responded with a simple thank you: “Thank you @cmshehbaz for your good wishes.”
The exchange between the leaders expanded with a more detailed message from Nawaz Sharif, who heads the ruling PML-N and attended the prime minister’s inauguration in 2014.
Prime Minister Shehbaz was not on the list of regional leaders invited to attend Modi’s swearing-in ceremony on Sunday, a sign that ties between the two countries are continuing.
On relations with China, Jaishankar said that India will focus on finding a solution to the border issue with China, which has been straining relations between the neighboring countries for a long time.
“Regarding China, there are some problems at the border and we will focus on how to solve them.”
India and China share a 3,800 kilometer border, and the less well-armed countries also went to war in 1962.
Military clashes have been ongoing since July 2020, when at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers were killed in the deadliest clash in five decades.
