ISRAELI prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena are among the first few leaders to congratulate India's Narendra Modi for scripting an "impressive victory" in the general elections.
Taking to Twitter, Netanyahu vowed to strengthen their "great friendship" as well as bilateral ties.
"Sincerely greetings to you, my friend @Narendramodi, for your impressive victory in the elections!," Netanyahu tweeted in Hebrew and Hindi. "The election results are another confirmation of your leadership and the way you lead the world's greatest democracy. Together we will continue to strengthen the great friendship between us and India and Israel and lead it to new heights," he tweeted.
Sri Lankan president Sirisena, too, took to the microblogging platform to say he hoped to continue the "warm and constructive relationship".
"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," wrote Sirisena.
Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe wrote: "Congratulations to @narendramodi on a magnificent victory! We look forward to working closely with you."
In a letter sent to Modi, Chinese president Xi Jinping congratulated him on the electoral victory of the NDA under his leadership, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.
In the letter, President Xi noted the great importance he attached to the development of India-China relations and his desire to work with Modi to take the closer development partnership between the two countries to a new height.
Xi also expressed satisfaction at the strong momentum of development in India-China relations in recent years with the joint efforts of both the sides.
Congratulating Modi, Russian president Vladimir Putin expressed his readiness to work together to build up the full range of bilateral relations.
"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," Putin said in a message.
Monks sit on a stage next to portraits of tsunami victims as people take part in an interfaith ceremony at the Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Park in southern Thai province of Phang Nga on December 26, 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)
