Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday congratulated Mahathir Mohamad on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
“I look forward to working closely with Dr. Mahathir to further strengthen the mutually beneficial strategic partnership between our two countries…heartiest congratulations,” PM Modi tweeted.
Heartiest congratulations to Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Malaysia. I look forward to working closely with Dr. Mahathir to further strengthen the mutually beneficial strategic partnership between our two countries.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 11, 2018
Mahathir, 92, was sworn in as the seventh prime minister of Malaysia on Thursday.
Mahathir Mohamad became the world’s oldest Prime Minister after a stunning election victory against scandal-haunted leader Najib Razak.
Mohamad’s win overturned decades of dominance by the country’s main coalition, Barisan Nasional (BN), which had been in power since independence in 1957.
He came out of retirement and defected to the opposition to take on and beat Najib Razak.
Official results showed that the opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) won 113 of total 222 seats — crossing the required majority of 112 — while the ruling BN coalition of Najib managed to get just 79 seats.
The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) emerged as the third biggest force with 18 seats.
In his first statement after victory, Mahathir told his supporters that his objective was to re-establish the rule of law after the corruption scandals that characterised Najib’s term.
Mahathir, was the longest-serving Prime Minister of the country between 1981-2003. Under his leadership, Malaysia became one of the Asian tigers — the group of countries which saw their economies expand rapidly in the 1990s.
(With inputs from agencies)