Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid on Wednesday became the first foreign dignitary to arrive here to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that is set to take place on Thursday.
"First esteemed guest to arrive! President of Bangladesh, Md. Abdul Hamid arrives in the capital to participate in the oath-taking ceremony of PM @narendramodi and the Council of Ministers tomorrow. Other #BIMSTEC members, #SCO Chair and PM of Mauritius will be joining in tomorrow," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.
Leaders from all BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) member-states have confirmed their attendance for Modi's swearing-in ceremony. The bloc's member nations include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand besides India.
Apart from the Bangladesh President, President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena, President of Myanmar U Win Myint, Prime Minister of Bhutan Lotay Tshering, Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli, and Thailand's Special Envoy Grisada Boonrach will be heading to New Delhi for attending the ceremony.
The President of Kyrgyzstan, Sooronbay Jeenbekov, along with the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, will also be present at the event.
The decision to invite BIMSTEC leaders from the grouping is in line with the government's 'Neighbourhood First' policy, Kumar had said earlier.
In 2014, when Modi won his first term, all the SAARC leaders, including the then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended the swearing-in as part of invitations extended to all the member countries of the South Asian grouping.
( With inputs from ANI )