Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited U.S. President Joe Biden to be chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 next year, said U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti here on September 20. While the U.S. Congress would be in session at the time, Mr. Garcetti said that the invitation is under consideration. Mr. Biden is due to visit India in 2024 for the Quad Summit, and reports have suggested that the government is coordinating with Japanese and Australian governments to try and schedule the Indo-Pacific Quadrilateral grouping’s meeting at the same time.
“During their bilateral talks on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, Prime Minister Modi invited President Biden to visit for January 26. He did not mention the Quad Summit during the meeting, as that has to be coordinated between [all four countries],” Mr. Garcetti said speaking to journalists during an event hosted by the Ananta Centre, where he spoke about “Navigating the Future: A Post-G20 Dialogue on India-U.S. Bilateral Relations”.
This is the third time the Modi government has issued an invitation to the U.S. President for the Republic Day parade, an honour that normally goes to a different country each year. In 2015, U.S. President Barack Obama became the first American President to officiate at Republic Day, while in 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump turned down the invitation for January 2019, due to scheduling difficulties in the U.S. Congress. Mr. Garcetti’s comments came even as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar heads to New York, where he is likely to hold a meeting with Quad Ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting. Sources said that U.S.-India Defence and Foreign Ministers’ “2+2” is also being scheduled in November in Delhi this year, which will set the stage for the visit by Mr. Biden in January.
