NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar will represent India at the swearing-in ceremony of president-elect Donald Trump as the 47th US president, said the government in an announcement Sunday.
The visit, it said, followed an invitation from the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.
“During the visit, EAM will also have meetings with representatives of the incoming Administration, as also some other dignitaries visiting the US on that occasion,” said the MEA in its announcement of the visit.
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The Trump inauguration will take place on January 20 and will for the first time in the US history see the presence of foreign leaders at the oath-taking of a US president. Trump’s team is reported to have so far invited Chinese President Xi Jinping, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, Argentinian President Javier Milei and El Salvador leader Nayib Bukele to the event.
While others are expected to participate, Xi is likely to send a high-level envoy to represent him, according to reports from Washington.
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Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, another leader knows to share ideological affinity with Trump, is also in the guest list. The announcement about Jaishankar’s participation comes in the middle of intense speculation, especially in social media, over whether Indian PM Narendra Modi too would be invited. Government sources didn’t comment on whether the invitation was specifically for the PM and if Jaishankar was filling in for him.
