Leaders of seven nations to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony
Leaders of BIMSTEC-member countries, the prime minister of Mauritius and the president of Kyrgyz Republic, among other dignitaries, will attend the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony on May 30, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Monday. BIMSTEC, or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India. In 2014, PM Modi had invited all the leaders of SAARC nations, including Pakistan, for his swearing-in. It was not immediately clear, whether this time the government will invite Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for the function.
Kyrgyz Republic President Sooronbay Jeenbekov is the current chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth was the chief guest at this year’s Pravasi Bhartiya Divas. India-Pakistan ties received a fresh jolt after the Pulwama terror attack in February and followed by India’s response with aerial strikes on terror camps in Pakistan’s Balakot.
PM Modi stormed to power after his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with a massive mandate, winning 303 seats in the 542-member Lower House of parliament, and together with NDA, the coalition bagged an astounding 353 seats. On Saturday, PM Modi was elected the leader of the NDA and hours later he met President Ram Nath Kovind to stake claim to form the government. Addressing the elected NDA leaders on the same evening, Modi had said that his mantra of sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas will usher in development for every region of the country. He said his government would leave no stone unturned to fulfil the dreams and expectations of people.
The 17th Lok Sabha elections were held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19.
