New Delhi, May 27
Leaders from BIMSTC countries, besides the heads of government of Kyrgyzstan and Mauritius, are among the foreign dignitaries who will attend the swearing-in ceremony of PM Narendra Modi for his second term. Making the announcement, the MEA said it would later announce any additions to the list.
BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Scientific Cooperation has Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand besides India.
Last time, Modi had invited leaders of all SAARC countries for his first swearing-in ceremony as PM. The souring of ties with Pakistan has led the government to avoid the SAARC umbrella in order to ensure Islamabad is excluded. Afghanistan has suffered collateral damage from this strategy though the MEA has said the invitee list is still open.
Earlier it was being speculated that either leaders from West Asia or the five permanent (P-5) members of the UN Security Council (the US, the UK, France, Russia and China) could attend the swearing-in ceremony. — TNS
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2HDnlVc
via Today’s News Headlines
No comments: