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.
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 neighbors, 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 in Hindi at the ceremony conducted by Indian 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,” he said.
“I will work without fear, anger or hatred and will do justice to all as per the codes of the constitution,” he said.
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 a statement published on the prime minister’s Web site.
“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.
Pakistani 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.
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