New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was re-elected with a thumping majority for a second term at the centre, will take oath at the Rashtrapati Bhavan along with the new council of ministers on Thursday.
The oath-taking ceremony, that will begin at 7 PM, will be attended by leaders of the BIMSTEC member countries, in line with the government’s “Neighbourhood First” policy. BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation is a regional grouping of countries on the rim of the Bay of Bengal which include Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.
Foreign Leaders Who Will Attend PM Modi’s Swearing-In Ceremony On May 30:
1. Abdul Hamid, President of Bangladesh
2. Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka
3. Sooronbay Jeenbekov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic
4. U Win Myint, President of Myanmar
5. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius
6. KP Sharma Oli, Prime Minister of Nepal
7. Dr Lotay Tshering, Prime Minister of Bhutan
8. Grisada Boonrach, Special Envoy of Thailand
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will miss PM Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony for the second time as she will be on a three-nation foreign visit.
Back home, chief ministers and opposition leaders have been invited for the swearing-in ceremony. Among them, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao have accepted the invitation. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee indicated that she would attend the ceremony, as it was her constitutional obligation as chief minister.
In 2014, leaders of the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) were invited and attended the ceremony – the list included Nawaz Sharif, who was then Prime Minister of Pakistan.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance had won a resounding majority in the Lok Sabha elections, winning 352 seats in the 545-member lower house of parliament. Narendra Modi is the first BJP leader who has been elected for a second term after completion of his five-year tenure, a feat so far achieved only by three Congress leaders — Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. Several world leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had congratulated PM Modi on his election victory.
