DELHI: Top leaders from India’s neighbourhood and the Indian Ocean region including Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday graced the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union council of ministers.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, his Bhutanese counterpart Tshering Tobgay and Vice-President of Seychelles Ahmed Afif also attended the glittering event held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Modi took the oath for the third straight term, days after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance secured 293 seats out of 543 in the Lok Sabha polls.
Along with Modi, senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar were sworn in as cabinet ministers, indicating the Prime Minister’s emphasis on continuity and experience as they held senior positions in his second term.
Party president J P Nadda returned to the cabinet after five years, while former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and ex-Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar were among the fresh faces in the Modi cabinet.
BJP leaders Piyush Goyal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhupender Yadav, who were earlier in the Rajya Sabha but have now been elected to the Lok Sabha, were among those retained as ministers.
The foreign leaders were sitting in the front row at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
While Hasina and Afif reached Delhi on Saturday, Muizzu, Prachanda, Wickremesinghe, Jugnauth and Tobgay arrived on Sunday.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the leaders of the seven countries were invited to the ceremony in keeping with the highest priority accorded by India to its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and ‘SAGAR’ vision.
India has been cooperating with the countries of the Indian Ocean region under the broader policy framework of SAGAR or Security and Growth for all in the Region.
The leaders of regional grouping SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries attended Modi’s first swearing ceremony when he took the reins as the prime minister after a massive electoral victory for BJP in 2014.
Leaders of the BIMSTEC countries attended Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, in 2019 when he became prime minister for the second consecutive term.
Besides India, the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) comprises Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.
Among the foreign leaders, the decision to invite Muizzu assumed significance as it came against the backdrop of the strained ties between India and the Maldives.
It is Muizzu’s first visit to India after he became the island nation’s president on November 17 last year.
The ties between India and the Maldives came under severe strain since Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, took charge of the top office.
Within hours of his oath, he had demanded the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country. The Indian military personnel were replaced by civilians earlier this month.
Modi is likely to hold separate bilateral meetings with the foreign leaders.
Though the BJP could not get a majority on its own in the recent Lok Sabha polls, the party-led alliance secured 293 seats.
The majority mark in the lower house is 272.
