Abe first world leader to make congratulatory call to PM Modi

With the counting trends showing BJP-led NDA heading towards a comfortable majority in Lok Sabha, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the first world leader to make a congratulatory telephone call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

Leaders of several countries, including China, Russia, Bangladesh and Vietnam, also sent congratulatory messages to Modi.

During the conversation, Modi and Abe noted the advances made in the bilateral relationship in the last five years and reiterated their commitment towards further strengthening the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership to achieve their shared visions of peace, progress and prosperity.

The two Prime Ministers were looking forward to their meeting during the G20 Summit in Osaka next month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

In a letter addressed to Modi, Chinese President Xi Jimping noted the great importance he attached to the development of India-China ties and his desire to work with the Indian Prime Minister to take the "closer development partnership" between the two countries to a new height, the MEA said.

Xi also expressed satisfaction over the strong momentum of development in India-China relations in recent years with joint efforts on both sides.

In a congratulatory telegram sent to Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote, "I am convinced that, as the Prime Minister of India, you will further strengthen the centuries-old friendship between our peoples and the all-round development of a particularly privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India."

Shortly after that, Putin also called Modi to congratulate him over his party's victory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa, and former President of the Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom took to Twitter to send their congratulations to Modi.

"Congratulations, my friend @Narendramodi, on your impressive election victory! The election results further reaffirm your leadership of the world's largest democracy. Together we will continue to strengthen the great friendship between India & Israel.Well done, my friend!" the tweet by Netanyahu read.

The Afghan President wrote on Twitter, "Congratulations to PM @narendramodi on a strong mandate from the people of India. The government and the people of Afghanistan look forward to expanding cooperation between our two democracies in pursuit of regional cooperation, peace and prosperity for all of South Asia."

"My heartfelt congratulations to Prime Minister @narendramodi for his great electoral victory. Together, we will make sure that relations between #Portugal and #India will rise to a new level of friendship and cooperation in the next years," the Portugal Prime Minister said on Twitter.

"Warm congratulations to Indian PM HE @narendramodi on his election victory. Wish him a successful tenure. Maldives and India share common ideals of peace, democracy, human rights and progress," Abdul Gayoom wrote.

Earlier in the day, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also sent their congratulatory messages.

Sirisena wrote on his official Twitter handle, "Congratulations on your victory and the peoples re-endorsement of your leadership. Sri Lanka looks forward to continuing the warm and constructive relationship with India in the future.@narendramodi"

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister tweeted, "Congratulations to @narendramodi on a magnificent victory! We look forward to working closely with you."

As the counting for the world's largest democracy is underway, the ruling BJP seems set to cross the 300-mark along with its allies in Lok Sabha.

In the 2014 general elections, the BJP had won 282 seats, 10 more the halfway mark, on its own and crossed the 300-mark with its allies.

If the trends convert into seats, this would be the first time in more than 40 years in India, a party with a majority on its own will be coming back to power with a similar showing.