Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif and veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Behari Vajpayee on their birthdays on Sunday. Modi also extended Christmas greetings to the nation on Twitter.

The prime minister had made a surprise visit to Lahore to greet Sharif on his birthday last year, after which the Pakistani leader had said it was “high time the countries put aside their hostilities”. However, bilateral ties have been strained following attacks in Army camps in Kashmir, and India’s “surgical strikes” at militant strongholds along the Line of Control.

Modi gave his final Mann ki Baat address of the year on Sunday on the All India Radio, during which he announced prizes for citizens making digital transactions.