Washington: US Secretary of State John Kerry has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inviting his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif for his swearing-in ceremony which he described as the first step towards improving relations between the two neighbours.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns in New Delhi earlier this month

"Prime Minister Modi took the important first step of inviting Nawaz Sharif to his inauguration. Both men are business-minded leaders who want to create opportunity for their people," Kerry told a Washington-audience at an event organised by the Centre for American Progress (CAP), a US think-tank.