NEW DELHI: Leaders of seven countries from India's immediate neighbourhood and the Indian Ocean region will attend
PM-designate Narendra Modi
's third inauguration on Sunday, govt sources said. A formal announcement about the participation of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles is expected on Saturday.
Pakistan and Myanmar, which have in the past participated in
Modi's oath-taking
, remain the only two countries in the immediate neighbourhood to have not yet been invited.
While then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif had attended the inauguration in 2014 in which all Saarc countries had been invited, Myanmar was in the guest list for the 2019 swearing-in for which Bimstec leaders were invited in another neighbourhood outreach.
Inviting Afghanistan was out of the question because India hasn't recognised the Taliban regime in Kabul. Leaders of Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives have confirmed participation in the event.
Myanmar is in the middle of an internal crisis precipitated by continued clashes between the military and armed opposition groups.
Pakistan was not invited for the 2019 inauguration too, after Modi's peace initiative with Islamabad fizzled out because of repeated terror attacks carried out from across the border.
There has been no congratulatory message yet for Modi from Pakistan.
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