Italian PM Giorgia Meloni Congratulates PM Modi On Winning Third Term, US ‘Praises’ Polls – News18

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for winning a third consecutive term and said she will continue to work together with the Indian government to deepen ties between Italy and India.

“Congratulations to Narendra Modi on the new electoral victory and my warmest wishes for good work. (It is) certain that we will continue to work together to strengthen the friendship that unites Italy and India and consolidate cooperation on the various issues that bind us, for the well-being of our nations and our peoples,” Meloni said.

Several other world leaders as well as neighbouring countries have congratulated the Prime Minister on winning a third term. Leaders from Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives also sent congratulatory messages to Narendra Modi once the election results became clearer.

The US, meanwhile, praised India’s parliamentary elections as the “largest exercise of democracy in history”, while refraining from commenting on the outcomes of the polls.

State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller commended the Indian government and its voters for successfully completing the massive electoral process. “On behalf of the United States, we want to commend the government of India and voters there for successfully completing and participating in such a massive electoral undertaking, and we look forward to seeing final results,” he stated during his daily news briefing.

Miller emphasised the US stance on not commenting on electoral winners and losers worldwide. “I’m also not going to comment on winners and losers in elections as is our case around the world. What is important for us and what we have seen over the past six weeks is the largest exercise of democracy in history, as the Indian people came to the polls,” he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the BJP-led NDA getting a majority in the Lok Sabha.

In the election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured or was leading in 240 seats, emerging as the single largest party in the 543-member Lok Sabha.

BJP’s key allies, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)), were leading or winning 16 and 12 seats in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, respectively. With the support of other allies, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was on track to reach the 272-majority mark.