India invites regional leaders to PM's oath-taking

By Ahmad Adil

CHANDIGARH, India (AA) - India has invited leaders of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, Nepal and Bhutan to the oath-taking ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said Monday.

The ceremony will take place on Thursday in the Indian capital New Delhi. President Ram Nath Kovind will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Modi and other members of the Union Council of Ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan (President's house).

"Government of India has invited the leaders of the BIMSTEC Member States for the swearing-in ceremony. This is in line with government's focus on its 'Neighborhood First' policy. The president of the Kyrgyz Republic, who is the current chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the prime minister of Mauritius [...] have also been invited,” Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Raveesh Kumar said in a statement.

In 2014, when Modi came to power, he had invited then-Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to his oath-taking ceremony. So far, there is no indication of an invitation to incumbent Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 303 seats in the 542 contested constituencies in the general elections. The results were announced last week.