Nawaz Sharif greets Narendra Modi after the swearing-in ceremony.
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif talked about their mothers when they met briefly after the former was sworn in at a grand ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan today. (
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Mr Modi said in a series of tweets on Monday night, "Earlier in the evening in my conversation with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif he shared some very emotional things...Nawaz Sharif ji told me that he stays in Islamabad but goes to meet his Mother once in a week."
"This time when he was eating with his Mother he saw visuals on TV of my Mother offering me sweets...The visuals touched both Nawaz Sharif ji & his Mother. He told me that after seeing the visuals his Mother got very emotional," Mr Modi said on Twitter.
Mr Modi's mother Hiraben, 95, could not travel to Delhi to attend his oath ceremony, but
watched it live on TV at her home in Gandhinagar. Mr Modi is known to visit her and seek her blessings on all important days, including his birthday. (
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On May 16, elections results day, once it became clear that his party the BJP was headed for a big win, Mr Modi left his residence in Gandhinagar and headed straight to his mother's home, where she fed him sweets. He later tweeted a selfie of Hiraben blessing him.
Mr Sharif is in India on Mr Modi's invitation and was among eight leaders of South Asian neighbours and some 4,000 other guests who watched Mr Modi and his new ministers take the oath of office today. The invitations to foreign leaders, an unprecedented move, showed Mr Modi's determination to be a big player on the global stage after years of international isolation over the 2002 riots in Gujarat, the state he ruled till now. (
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After the ceremony, Mr Sharif, who had called it a "great moment and great opportunity", was the first to shake hands with the new Prime Minister. (
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Mr Sharif, 64, will meet the new Prime Minister on Tuesday as part of a series of bilateral meetings with all eight world leaders. Indian officials see the meeting, scheduled for around noon, as an ice-breaker but the Pakistani leader described it as a chance to reach out to each other.