US Prez Biden not visiting India as R-Day Chief Guest

NEW DELHI: US President Joe Biden is not travelling to India next month to grace the Republic Day celebrations as the Chief Guest, and New Delhi is looking at holding the next Quad summit later next year instead of its earlier plan to host it in January, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

In September, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited President Biden to be the Chief Guest for the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 next year.

However, there was no official word from India on the invitation to Biden.It is learnt that Washington has already conveyed to New Delhi that Biden would not be able to visit India.

The reasons for the decision are believed to be the State of the Union address in late January or early February, Biden’s focus on his re-election bid and Washington’s increasing focus on the Hamas-Israel conflict.

The people cited above said the Quad summit is not taking place in India in January and it is now proposed to be held in the country in the later part of 2024.

It was expected that the Quad summit would take place around January 27 if Biden accepted India’s invite.