Narendra Modi becomes 15th Prime Minister of India
Pakistan's PM Nawaz Sharif and leaders of other South Asian countries attended the ceremony.
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Narendra Modi promised to forge a "strong and inclusive" India on Monday after being sworn in as the 15th prime minister of the world s largest democracy.
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office and secrecy to Narendra Modi and his Council of Ministers in the presence of a host of leaders, including outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi, besides leaders of various other parties and Chief Ministers of a number of states.
Ten days after his right-wing party won the first electoral majority in three decades, the 63-year-old former tea boy took the oath of office at a lavish ceremony attended by leaders of India s neighbours, including Pakistan.
"I, Narendra Damodardas Modi, do swear in the name of God that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established," Modi said at the ceremony conducted by President Pranab Mukherjee.
"I swear that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India and I swear that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as prime minister of the Union."
Modi, leader of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has a reputation as a hardline Hindu nationalist. But in a statement released as he took the oath, he promised to govern for all of India s 1.25 billion people.
"As we devote ourselves to take India s development journey to newer heights, we seek your support, blessings and active participation," Modi said in the statement on the prime minister s website.
"Together we will script a glorious future for India," he added.
"Let us together dream of a strong, developed and inclusive India that actively engages with the global community to strengthen the cause of world peace and development."
After Modi took the oath of office, senior BJP figures who have been appointed to his cabinet were sworn into office.
Although their exact portfolios were not announced, they included Sushma Swaraj who is expected to become foreign minister and Arun Jaitley, tipped to be finance minister.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Hamid Karzai were among the regional leaders who attended the ceremony outside the Indian president s official residence in New Delhi.
In an interview shortly before the inauguration, Sharif said Modi s arrival in power represented "a great opportunity" for the nuclear-armed rivals to forge a new era in their troubled relationship.
"This is a chance to reach out to each other. Both governments have a strong mandate," Sharif told India s NDTV network, according to a transcript provided by the Pakistan High Commission.
"Both countries should rid the region of instability and security that has plagued us for decades," he added.
The invitation to Sharif was seen as a significant olive branch to India s Muslim neighbour and it marks the first time that a leader from either country has attended his counterpart s inauguration since independence in 1947.
Modi will hold bilateral talks with Sharif on Tuesday with hopes the two can thaw ties and even take steps towards improving trade.India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947 and bilateral ties broke down after the 2008 attacks by Pakistani gunmen on Mumbai in which 166 people were killed.
Relations warmed slightly toward the end of the term of outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but still remain frosty, with mutual distrust and regular skirmishes along their disputed Kashmir border.
Sharif has cited his working relationship with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India s last BJP prime minister, as a reason for optimism, according to diplomatic sources.
In 1999, during Sharif s second term in power, Vajpayee rode a bus to the Pakistani city of Lahore to sign a peace accord and raise hopes of normalised ties. But three months later, the neighbours embarked on the Kargil conflict in Kashmir that almost became a full-fledged war.
Modi secured the biggest majority in 30 years at the election, trouncing the scandal-plagued Congress on a promise of reviving manufacturing and investment to create millions of jobs.
His pledge to overhaul the flagging economy won over voters, along with his rags-to-riches story and reputation as a clean and efficient chief minister of prosperous western Gujarat state.
Critics claimed Modi would favour the Hindu majority at the expense of the country s 150 million Muslims and other religious minorities, but the warnings failed to dent his rise.
Many Muslims remain deeply suspicious of Modi, who is tainted by communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 that killed more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims. Modi has denied he failed to stop the bloodshed and a court investigation found he had no case to answer.
Ordinary Indians and business leaders have sky-high expectations of what Modi will deliver in a chaotic and still poor country that is home to a sixth of humanity. With the economy growing at under five percent, analysts warn bold reforms are needed.
In a rare sign of emotion last week, Modi choked back tears as he promised to try to live up to the expectations of all Indians including "our weakest and poorest" during a speech in parliament.
