Neighbours minus Pakistan likely to attend Modi’s oath-taking; Biden to send NSA
Sandeep Dikshit
New Delhi, June 6
Though the date of the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become uncertain due to hard bargaining for Cabinet berths by the BJP’s allies, plans remain in place to invite leaders from the neighbourhood, said sources.
Canada seeks fresh start; China objects to exchange between Modi, Taiwan Prez
- Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, with whom India has strained relations over terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s murder, extended an olive branch in his congratulatory message to PM Modi
- He wrote on X, “Canada stands ready to work with Modi govt to advance the relationship between our nations’ peoples — anchored to human rights, diversity, and the rule of law.’’
- The Chinese foreign ministry, meanwhile, lodged a strong protest with the Government of India over the exchange between PM Modi and Taiwan President Lai Ching-te on X
- “India has made serious political commitments regarding the one-China principle and should be vigilant against the political schemes of Taiwan authorities…,” said the Chinese Foreign Ministry
PM Modi had a telephonic conversation in this regard with several leaders from the neighbourhood, including Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, they said. PM Modi has not called up his Pakistan counterpart Shehbaz Sharif so far.
Sources said Sharif would not be able to make it for the ceremony as he was in China for a five-day visit till June 10.
The invite to the neigbourhood is a redux of Modi’s first oath-taking ceremony in 2014 which was attended by all SAARC leaders, including then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif. Modi’s third oath-taking ceremony as Prime Minister was to be attended by Hasina, Wickremesinghe, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, Tobgay, and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, who was the first world leader to call up PM Modi on Wednesday. The Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, who has taken a pro-China approach, has also been invited.
On the other hand, US President Joe Biden and Russian President Valdimir Putin were among the large number of world leaders to call up Modi to congratulate him and his party on their third consecutive victory in the general elections.
Keen to put momentum into ties from the starting block of the new NDA government, Biden will dispatch his National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan who had earlier put off a scheduled visit in April amidst Iran-Israel and the Pannun episode tensions.
Terming the results as a “historic victory” for the Modi-led NDA, the White House readout on the phone call underlined Sullivan’s upcoming travel to New Delhi to “engage the new government on shared US-India priorities, including the trusted and strategic technology partnership”.
