Pakistan PM-designate Imran Khan likely to invite Modi for his swearing-in ceremony

Islamabad, July 31: Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is considering inviting the leaders of the SAARC countries including Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his oath taking ceremony as the premier next month, a party official said on Tuesday.

"The core committee of Tehreek-i-Insaf is considering inviting the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) heads including Mr Modi and a decision on this is expected shortly," a leader of Khan's party told PTI.

Imran Khan will take oath as prime minister on August 11, even as his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party was striving to get the required numbers to form a government.

Modi on Monday telephoned Khan to congratulate him on his party's victory in the general elections and hoped that "Pakistan and India will work to open a new chapter in bilateral ties".

The PTI, led by 65-year-old Khan, has emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly after the July 25 elections, but it is still short of numbers to form the government on its own. Khan's party yesterday announced that it is trying to reach out to smaller parties and independents to form the next government.

Khan said he will take oath as Prime Minister on 11th of next month (August), state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

According to the results, the PTI has bagged 116 general seats 22 short of simple majority whereas the PML-N and PPP have won 64 and 43 seats, respectively.

Pakistan's National Assembly comprises a total of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected.

To meet the required number of votes, the PTI leadership has reportedly been approaching the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), PML-Quaid (PML-Q), and the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), as well as independents.

(with PTI inputs)