No formal invitation was sent to Trump to visit India in January: V K Singh

In October, a White House official said Trump would not be able to visit India as Chief Guest of Republic Day celebrations next year due to scheduling constraints.

Image tweeted by @MEAIndia

New Delhi: India did not send a formal invitation to US President Donald Trump to visit India in January, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh said on Wednesday. While replying to question in the Lok Sabha on whether the government invited the US President to visit India in January, Singh said that no formal invitation has been sent to Trump in this regard. In a written reply, Singh said: "The India-US joint statement issued on June 27, 2017 states, 'President Trump gladly accepted Prime Minister Modi's invitation to visit India.' No formal invitation has been sent to the US President to visit India in January 2019.” In October, a White House official said Trump would not be able to visit India as Chief Guest of Republic Day celebrations next year due to scheduling constraints. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited President Trump for a bilateral visit to India during their talks in Washington last year. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders had, in July, said that Trump has received an invitation to visit India, but no decision has been taken yet. "President Trump was honoured by Prime Minister Modi's invitation for him to be Chief Guest of India's Republic Day on January 26, 2019 but is unable to participate due to scheduling constraints," a White House spokesperson had said. Every year, India invites world leaders to attend its Republic Day celebrations. In 2015, the then US president Barack Obama had attended it as the chief guest, which was his second visit to India as the American president. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina, which the South African leader accepted. (inputs from PTI)