Prime Minister Narendra Modi send his best wishes to Pakistan's new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after being elected to power. Sharif in reply said, his country desires “peaceful and cooperative” ties with India. Pakistan’s sacrifices in fighting terrorism are well-known. Let’s secure peace and focus on socio-economic development of our people. ”He also asked Modi to come forward to address the Kashmir issue so that the two countries could concentrate on tackling poverty, unemployment, shortage of medicines and other issues on two sides of the border.
Ties between India and Pakistan deteriorated after India announced withdrawing the special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation of the state into two union territories in August 2019. On Monday, Pakistan Parliament elected unopposed Shehbaz Sharif as the 23rd Prime Minister of the country, bringing an end to the political uncertainty that had gripped the nation since a no-confidence motion was introduced against his predecessor Imran Khan on March 8. Sharif, the younger brother of former three-time PM Nawaz Sharif, was the only candidate left in the race after former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party would boycott the voting, and staged a walkout.