India is expected to extend invitations to leaders from neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s oath taking ceremony on June 8, 2024. Sources familiar with the matter said and revealed this information on June 5, 2024. Narendra Modi is poised to begin his historic third term as the Prime Minster of India following the victory of the BJP-NDA with 293 seats in the Lok Sabha.
On June 4, 2024, the Deputy Press Secretary to the President announced that the Rashtrapati Bhawan will remain closed for the general public from June 5 to June 9, 2024 as the oath taking ceremony will be conducted there.
According to these sources, prominent figures for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Mauritius are likely to receive invitations to attend Modi’s oath taking ceremony. The media office of the Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe confirmed that PM Modi extended an invitation to him for the swearing in ceremony and Wickremesinghe has accepted the invitation.
PM Modi also had a telephonic conversation with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina. In the conversation, Modi invited Hasina to attend his swearing ceremony and she accepted it diplomatic sources said. The people cited above said Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda and the Bhutanese PM Tshering Tobgay along with King Jigme Namgyal and Prime Minister of Mauritius Praveen Jugnauth are set to be invited to Modi’s swearing in ceremony.
Modi will assume office as Prime Minister for an unprecedented third consecutive term following the Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) securing 293 seats in the Lok Sabha Elections. The BJP did not achieve a majority on its own, the party led alliance managed to secure 293 out of 543 seats, whereas the halfway mark in the Lower House (Lok Sabha) is 272.
With the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal United (JDU) the potential kingmakers giving their approval the formation of the Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is said to be formed. The swearing in ceremony for Modi is likely to take place on June 8, 2024.
After the 2019 Lok Sabha Polls, India invited the leaders of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation). The BIMSTEC group comprises of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka. As many as 8000 guests were invited which included VVIP’s. Similarly in 2014, the leaders of the SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation), including the then PM of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif attended the ceremony.
