Diplomatic Correspondent

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday reached New Delhi to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as the prime minister for a third consecutive term.

She is the first foreign leader who arrived in India to attend the oath-taking event to be held on Sunday evening.

On her arrival by a Bangladesh Biman Airlines flight, Sheikh Hasina was received at the Palam Air Force Station, the VVIP airport, by Indian Ministry of External Affairs Secretary Muktesh Pardeshi, and Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Md Mustafizur Rahman among others.

During her stay in New Delhi, she will have a tete-a-tete with Narendra Modi after the swearing-in at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 7:20pm on Sunday. She will also attend a banquet there to be hosted by Indian President Droupadi Murmu along with other foreign leaders after the oath-taking event.

Meanwhile, New Delhi said the presence of leaders from seven countries in South Asia at the event reflects its “highest priority to ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.”

“The swearing-in ceremony of Modi and the Council of Ministers following the recent parliamentary elections is scheduled on June 9, 2024. On the occasion, leaders from India’s neighbourhood and Indian Ocean region have been cordially invited as distinguished guests,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

It said the presence of leaders from seven neighbouring countries at the swearing-in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi reflects New Delhi’s “highest priority accorded by India to its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.”

The MEA statement said that besides Sheikh Hasina, President of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of the Maldives Mohamed Muizzu, Vice-President of Seychelles Ahmed Afif, Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minister of Bhutan Tshering Tobgay have accepted the invitation to attend the swearing-in event.

Muizzu was a surprise addition to the list of invitees to Modi's oath-taking, especially amid the strained ties between India and the Maldives since his election last year on the back of an “India Out” campaign.

Muizzu has taken a range of steps to push his country closer to China like forcing India to recall more than 85 military personnel who were stationed in the Indian Ocean archipelago to operate two helicopters and an aircraft mainly used for medical evacuations and humanitarian relief operations.

He has also signed agreements with Turkey and China for the supply of food items and defence equipment in a bid to cut dependence on India.