Nasheed, Madhav Nepal call up Modi to offer congratulations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday received telephone calls from former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed and former Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Nepal congratulating him on his victory in the parliamentary elections.

An External Affairs Ministry statement said that Nasheed congratulated Modi on the historic mandate and noted that the relationship between Maldives and India had deepened in recent times.

He also stressed the importance of close cooperation to fight the forces of extremism and radicalisation in the region.

Modi thanked him for his felicitation and reiterated his commitment to continue fostering a strong, mutually beneficial and all-round partnership between the two countries for peace, security and development in the region.

The statement said that Madhav Nepal congratulated Modi for leading his party and alliance to a "grand, historic and landslide victory".

He expressed confidence that India's emergence as a front-ranking world power would qualitatively uplift the entire region.

Thanking Nepal for his wishes, Modi expressed his earnest desire to further strengthen the historically friendly and multifaceted ties between India and Nepal.

--IANS

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