Modi has invited Biden to be Republic Day Chief Guest in 2024: US Ambassador Eric Garcetti
Narendra Modi has invited US President Joe Biden to be the Chief Guest at the 2024 Republic Day celebrations, said US envoy Eric Garcetti. Garcetti, who took office as Ambassador earlier this year, was speaking to reporters at an event hosted by the Ananta Aspen Centre, a think-tank. If Biden accepts the invitation, he will be only the second US President to be Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day.
The first was Barack Obama, who was Chief Guest in 2015. The invitation reflects the increasingly close ties between India and the US, which now run the gamut from trade and energy to defence and space cooperation. Modi himself embarked on a high-profile state visit to the US in June this year.
Modi and Biden last met during the G20 Summit in New Delhi in early September. Both sides unveiled plans for an India Middle East Economic Corridor (IMEC) along with partners in West Asia and the European Union. “The leaders called on their governments to continue the work of transforming the India-US Strategic Partnership across all dimensions of our multifaceted global agenda, based on trust and mutual understanding.
The leaders re-emphasized that the shared values of freedom, democracy, human rights, inclusion, pluralism, and equal opportunities for all citizens are critical to the success our countries enjoy and that these values strengthen our relationship," a joint statement released by both sides said after the Modi-Biden meeting on 8 September. Several major Western leaders have been Republic Day Chief Guests before. Among them were Jacques Chirac, François Hollander, Nicolas Sarkozy and Valery Giscard d’Estaing of France, as was Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minister of Australia, in 1979.
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