The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited US President Joe Biden to be the chief guest for India’s 2024 Republic Day parade during the bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit that was held recently in the national capital, Washington’s envoy to India Eric Garcetti confirmed on Wednesday.
While Garcetti confirmed the invitation, he did not say if Biden had accepted it. The US president makes the State of the Union address in late January or early February every year. The address is a significant annual event in American politics, serving as a platform for the president to address the nation, lay out policy agenda, and discuss the current state of affairs. With 2024 being an election year in the US, it is unclear if Biden will make time to attend the Republic Day parade on January 26, 2024.
In 2015, then US President Barack Obama watched the parade as Modi’s chief guest.
According to the news agency PTI, Garcetti was on Wednesday asked about the possibility of India inviting leaders from the Quad nations to partake in the Republic Day celebrations. India is set to host the Quad summit – consisting of India, the United States, Japan, and Australia – next year.
Garcetti said that Prime Minister Modi had formally invited President Biden to the Republic Day festivities during their bilateral discussion, but indicated that he lacked information regarding the possibility of the heads of state of all Quad countries participating in the event.