PM Narendra Modi congratulates Shehbaz Sharif for his 2nd Term as Pakistan PM 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday congratulated his counterpart Shehbaz Sharif on taking oath as the next prime minister of Pakistan. Sharif was on Monday sworn in as Pakistan's 24th Prime Minister. President Arif Alvi administered the oath to the 72-year-old Shehbaz in a ceremony held at the Aiwan-i-Sadr, the presidential residence. This is his second term since 2022. 

Taking to X, PM Modi wrote, "Congratulations to Shahbaz Sharif on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Shehbaz, the chosen candidate of the PML-N and the PPP alliance, received 201 votes in the 336-member Pakistan parliament on Monday. His challenger Omar Ayub Khan of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secured 92 votes. In the February 8 elections, Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party came second. Candidates, who were backed by former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), won the most seats. But they failed to get a majority in Parliament.

In 2022 too, PM Narendra Modi sent a congratulatory message to Shehbaz Sharif when he took over as prime minister after Imran Khan’s ouster.

That time, PM Modi had posted: “Congratulations to HE Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on his election as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. India desires peace and stability in a region free of terror, so that we can focus on our development challenges and ensure the well-being and prosperity of our people.”

Shehbaz Sharif's return to the top role, which he held till August, has garnered significant attention from economists, investors, and international political entities. They keenly await announcements pertinent to the appointment of cabinet members, notably the prospective finance minister. The selected individual will be responsible for conducting essential negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), particularly as the existing financial arrangement is due for expiration in April. 

Sharif has already directed his authorities to quickly negotiate with the International Monetary Fund, as the nation’s $3 billion bailout program is set to end in April.

On Tuesday, Sharif gave the order to speed up talks for a new loan after he was briefed by Finance Secretary Imdad Ullah Bosal in a meeting with senior government leaders, according to a statement issued by the prime minister’s office.

Last week, the IMF had recommended Pakistan several measures such as increasing taxes, reducing tax slabs, and eliminating tax exemption on the contribution of private employers to pensioners, to yield additional revenues for the cash-strapped government.

The IMF estimated that if the recommendations on personal income tax were fully implemented, it could yield additional revenues of 0.5 per cent of the GDP, equivalent to Pakistani Rs 500 billion on an annual basis, a report in The News International said.

The IMF’s recommendations to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) would double the tax burden for salaried and non-salaried classes and would impact the middle and upper middle-income groups if accepted.

The FBR has so far collected Pakistani Rs 215 billion from the salaried class in the first eight months (July-February) of the current fiscal year.

It is estimated that the FBR could fetch approximately Pakistani Rs 300 billion from the salaried class, and the IMF’s recommendation on personal income tax could bring additional revenues of Pakistani Rs 500 billion from both salaried and non-salaried classes.

Pakistan is heavily dependent on the IMF and currently implementing a short-term $3 billion agreement. The global lender has already provided two tranches of loan and the last tranche of $1.2 billion is expected by the end of March or early April.

Earlier, the IMF’s review mission was scheduled to visit the cash-strapped country in the first week of February, but the delegation refused to visit on the eve of the general elections.

(With PTI inputs)