Narendra Modi is likely to take oath as the Prime Minister for the third consecutive time on Saturday (June 8) after BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s members unanimously elected him as its leader at a key meeting in Delhi yesterday.
For the historic occasion, India has invited some of the top South Asian leaders– including Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina– to Modi’s swearing-in ceremony over the weekend, in lines of the NDA government’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
As per top diplomatic sources, Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth and President of Seychelles Wavel Ramkalawan are also being invited to the grand ceremony.
Wickremesinghe and Hasina have already confirmed their presence at Saturday’s event after speaking to PM Modi over the phone.
The media division of Sri Lankan President’s office said Modi invited him to the swearing-in ceremony and Wickremesinghe accepted the invite and congratulated Modi on the electoral victory in a phone call.
“During the conversation, Prime Minister @narendramodi invited President Wickremesinghe to his swearing-in ceremony, which President @RW_UNP accepted,” it said.
Modi also had a phone conversation with Hasina and invited her to attend his swearing-in ceremony which she accepted, diplomatic sources said.
Modi also has a separate phone conversation with Prachanda.
The formal invitations to all leaders are being sent on Thursday, said one of the people cited above.
The invitation to Muizzu assumes significance as it came amid frosty ties between the two countries.
The ties between India and the Maldives came under severe strain since November last year when Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, took charge as Maldivian president.
Within hours of his oath, he had demanded the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country. The Indian military personnel were replaced by civilians earlier this month.
Modi is all set to take charge as the prime minister for a historic third consecutive term with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) winning 293 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
Though the BJP could not get a majority on its own in the polls, the party-led alliance secured 293 seats out of 543. The majority mark in the Lower House is 272.
The leaders of regional grouping SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries attended Modi’s first swearing-in ceremony when he took the reins as the prime minister after a massive electoral victory for the BJP.
Leaders of the BIMSTEC countries attended Modi’s swearing-in ceremony in 2019 when he became prime minister for the second consecutive term.
