PM Modi invited US Prez Joe Biden to be R-Day chief guest: Eric Garcetti
The invitation to a foreign leader to be the chief guest at the Republic Day is a signal honour reserved for India’s closest allies and partners.
US President Joe Biden has been invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in January 2024, US ambassador Eric Garcetti said on Wednesday.
While there has been considerable speculation in diplomatic circles about India hosting a Quad Summit around the time of the Republic Day celebrations, Garcetti didn’t confirm whether a meeting of the grouping of India, Australia, Japan and the US would be held in January.
Speaking to reporters on the margins of an event at a think tank, Garcetti said PM Modi extended the invitation to Presidebt Biden to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 during their bilateral meeting on the margins of the G20 Summit on September 8.
If Biden accepts the invitation, he will be the second US president to be the chief guest at the event after Barack Obama, who was invited in 2015. Biden made his first visit to India after becoming the president to attend the G20 Summit earlier this month.
The invitation to a foreign leader to be the chief guest at the Republic Day is a signal honour reserved for India’s closest allies and partners. There were no chief guests at the celebrations in 2021 and 2022 because of disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The invitee is chosen through a combination of foreign policy and economic priorities, and the invitation to Biden reflects the rapid growth of the India-US strategic partnership, which ranges from close cooperation in the defence and security sphere to work on projects such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) that was launched during the G20 Summit.
