New Delhi: For Narendra Modi, the day after the results was not just about trying to show a united front with his much-needed allies, but also about taking calls from world leaders and extending verbal invitations to neighbouring leaders for his swearing-in ceremony, with formal invites set to be given out tomorrow.
There is still no public announcement, but the plan discussed even before the results came out was that the NDA government had already mapped out Rajpath (now renamed as Kartavya Path) for the venue. The date has also been tentatively fixed as Saturday (June 8).
The certainty of the date, of course, depends on his successfully negotiating ministerial portfolios with his alliance partners before the swearing-in ceremony.
While official notifications would likely be despatched on Thursday, Modi verbally invited those leaders in the neighbourhood who would be able to attend on short notice.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
So far, the offices of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have publicly announced that they will be traveling to India after receiving a verbal invitation from Modi during a phone call.
Besides, the invitations would also bring in Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth.
In 2014, Modi had invited all members of the moribund South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as well as the Mauritian premier.
Five years later, it was the turn of the leaders of the BIMSTEC grouping to be showcased at the ceremony. Thailand was not represented at the head of state level, but by a special envoy.
However, this time, the pickings were not that rich, since a couple of countries in the neighbourhood are out of bounds.
India is unlikely to invite Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu due to his antagonistic views of New Delhi, though his predecessors had graced Modi’s two swearing in ceremonies.
And despite maintaining relations with the junta, New Delhi is unlikely to have a representative from Myanmar’s military regime, which overthrew the country’s civilian government in 2021.
As a result, Indian officials have expanded their focus to include neighbouring countries in the Gulf and Central Asia. The acceptance of these invitations and the level of representation they will receive are yet to be determined.
The effort is to match the participation level of the last two swearing-in ceremonies, even though the ruling party’s numbers have gone down below the majority mark from 303 to 240 seats.
This time, Modi’s BJP has had to take the help of its NDA partners to cross the half-way mark in parliament, as per the results declared on June 4.
While the alliance is yet to finalise ministerial portfolios, the PM also replied to letters, tweets and phone calls from around 90 nations, with the exception of Chinese and Pakistani leaders.
Congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Democratic Alliance on their victory, and the nearly 650 million voters in this historic election.
The friendship between our nations is only growing as we unlock a shared future of unlimited potential.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 5, 2024
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India has concluded the world’s largest elections! Congratulations @NarendraModi, my dear friend. Together we will continue strenghtening the strategic partnership that unites India and France. pic.twitter.com/NXd4TGnuyO
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 5, 2024
Thank you, PM @RishiSunak, for your call and kind wishes. We remain committed to a strong, forward-looking India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, building upon our shared values and interests, and the living bridge of our connected peoples.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 5, 2024
Thank President Putin for his call to convey his warm wishes and felicitations to the people of India for record participation in general elections and the NDA’s success. We underlined our shared commitment to further strengthen India-Russia Special & Privileged Strategic…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 5, 2024
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson congratulated Modi, the BJP and the NDA at the weekly briefing for winning the elections and “looked forward to a healthy and stable China-India relationship”.
Incidentally, Taiwanese President Lai Ching Te tweeted his congratulations, which was publicly acknowledged by Modi, who said he looked forward to a “mutually beneficial economic and technological partnership”.
Although India and Taiwan do not have full diplomatic ties, they maintain economic relations through quasi-diplomatic missions in each other’s capitals.
Thank you @ChingteLai for your warm message. I look forward to closer ties as we work towards mutually beneficial economic and technological partnership. https://t.co/VGw2bsmwfM
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 5, 2024
After formally taking oath, Modi has to travel to Italy to take part in the outreach session of the G7 summit from June 13. He confirmed his acceptance of the invitation, which came during the elections.
He also said the invitations were a sign that the rest of the world also knew he was returning as prime minister.
Modi is also likely to go to Kazakhstan to take part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in July.
Summit invitations, adhering to diplomatic protocol, are extended to the respective political posts rather than individuals.
Read all of The Wire’s reporting on and analysis of the 2024 election results here.
