Islamabad, (Asian independent) India is heading to the Lok Sabha polls in what is termed as the world’s largest electoral process.
The current Prime Minister Narendra Modi is tipped to be the favourite to retain the throne of premiership, prompting mixed responses from Pakistanis.
The elections in India will be held in seven phases between April 19 and June 1, in which nearly one billion eligible voters will exercise their franchise. The results will be announced on June 4.
Some residents of Pakistan said the Narendra Modi government has done really good work in India in certain sectors, especially in the field of information technology (IT).
While many Pakistanis are critical of the NDA government in India, some appreciate the smooth conduct of a democratic process like elections by the neighbouring country, besides commending the Narendra Modi government’s performance.
“Holding elections is a democratic process. India and the Narendra Modi government should be commended for not only boosting the country’s global standing, but also for ensuring the holding of elections after each tenure. This is certainly an achievement,” said a resident of Islamabad.
Some experts in Pakistan also feel that the Narendra Modi government retaining power for a third time may pave the way for the normalisation of ties between the two countries.
“In Pakistan, we have the Sharifs in power and it is a known fact that the Sharif family shares better relations with Narendra Modi. Therefore, I think that if Narendra Modi wins the elections for a third time, it may also open up some positive routes for engagements between the two arch-rival neighbours,” said senior political analyst, Adnan Shaukat.
