India has reportedly invited Maldives President Mohammad Muizzu to Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony as Prime Minister. The grand event is scheduled for June 9. Earlier on Wednesday, pro-Chinese leader Muizzi congratulated the Indian leader for securing a third term. He asserted to work with India and stressed advancing ties between the two neighbouring nations. "Congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the BJP and BJP-led NDA, on the success in the 2024 Indian General Election, for the third consecutive term. I look forward to working together to advance our shared interests in pursuit of shared prosperity and stability for our two countries," Muizzu said in a post on X.
As of writing the article, the Maldivian President's office has not confirmed whether he will be visiting or not. However, if Muizzu visits New Delhi, it will be his first visit to India. Earlier, his predecessors had graced PM Modi with two swearing-in ceremonies. Notably, the relations between the two nations nosedived when he announced to remove the Indian troops from the island nation. Later, critical remarks from his ministers also sparked a major uproar in January this year.
Even Muizzu did not follow the India first policy. Earlier, when any President took office, they visited New Delhi as their first overseas tour. However, he did not visit India and rather went to China and finalised several key projects.
Who all are invited for PM Modi swearing-in ceremony
Besides, invitations have been sent to several South Asian leaders for the swearing-in ceremony. Those who were invited included Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Mauritius have been invited to attend the grand ceremony on June 9, news agency PTI reported citing people familiar with the matter.
The media division of Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe's office said Modi invited him to the swearing-in ceremony. It said Wickremesinghe accepted the invite and congratulated Modi on the electoral victory in a phone call.
"During the conversation, Prime Minister @narendramodi invited President Wickremesinghe to his swearing-in ceremony, which President @RW_UNP accepted," it said. Modi also had a phone conversation with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and invited her to attend his swearing-in ceremony which she accepted, diplomatic sources of the news agency claimed.
Nepal PM also invited to attend swearing-in event
The people cited above said Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth are set to be invited to Modi's swearing-in ceremony. Modi had a separate phone conversation with Prachanda. The formal invitations are set to be sent on Thursday, said one of the people cited above.
The leaders of regional grouping SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries attended Modi's first swearing-in ceremony when he took the reins as the prime minister after a massive electoral victory for the BJP. Leaders of the BIMSTEC countries attended Modi's swearing-in ceremony in 2019 when he became prime minister for the second consecutive term.
Modi is likely to take oath on June 8. Though the BJP could not get a majority on its own in the polls, the party-led alliance secured 293 seats out of 543. The majority mark in the Lower House is 272.
