Pakistani officials will not attend the swearing-in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 30, a source from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs told Sputnik on Tuesday
NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th May, 2019) Pakistani officials will not attend the swearing-in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 30, a source from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs told Sputnik on Tuesday."The leaders of the BIMSTEC [Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation] member states Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand and Bhutan have been invited for the upcoming oath-taking ceremony. Representatives of Pakistan will not attend the event," the source stated.
According to the source, the leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Mauritius were also invited to the ceremony.
The Indian general election took place over two months starting in April, and its results were announced on May 23. The National Democratic Alliance, led by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, won.
Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan congratulated Modi on his win shortly after the results were released, saying that he looked forward "to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity" in South Asia.
India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed rivals, have never been close allies throughout their history. Tensions in the Kashmir region, an area that is disputed by both countries, escalated in February when the Indian Air Force carried out an airstrike against what it claimed to be a camp belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group, located on the Pakistani side of Kashmir, in retaliation for an attack on an Indian paramilitary convoy earlier that month.
