India’s PM-elect Modi flags off South Asia dream

- by Manish Chand | Manish Chand

Dmodi-saarcays after he was elected with an overwhelming mandate to lead the world’s largest democracy, India’s prime minister-designate Narendra Modi has unfurled the South Asian dream as the heads of state and government of SAARC countries have been invited by Delhi to attend his swearing-in ceremony next week.

This is the first time foreign leaders have been invited to attend the swearing-in of an Indian prime minister. And the fact that Modi has chosen leaders of South Asian countries signals that the region will be the centrestage of India’s foreign policy under the next dispensation.

“Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh has written to SAARC counterparts inviting their leaders to attend swearing-in ceremony on 26th May,” Syed Akbaruddin, the spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said in New Delhi May 21.

The leaders who have been invited to the inauguration ceremony include Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Sri Lanka President President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

Informed source indicated that the leaders of Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bhutan have already accepted the invitation.

karzaiModi will be sworn in as the 15th prime minister of India by President Pranab Mukherjee at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the red sandstone presidential palace, in the heart of the Indian capital, which is expected to be attended by over 3000 guests.

While the contours of the foreign policy of the new dispensation are yet to become clear, Modi has signalled that his dispensation will be pursuing a robust economic diplomacy with India’s neighbouring countries as well as with leading growth centres in the world.

The invitation to the leaders of South Asian countries to visit India on the day he assumes the prime ministerial office May 26 is calculated to send a signal that his government will pursue vigorously the ideals of regional harmony and an economically integrated South Asia that is welded by win-win opportunities.

Author Profile

Manish Chand
Manish Chand
Manish Chand is Founder-CEO and Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) and India and World, a pioneering magazine focused on international affairs. He is CEO/Director of TGII Media Private Limited, an India-based media, publishing, research and consultancy company.

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