US President Joe Biden unlikely to visit India on Republic Day

Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation, US President Biden is not expected to visit India for the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 next year. Meanwhile, the Quad summit is proposed to be held in India in the later part of 2024, sources said.

New Delhi:US President Joe Biden is unlikely to attend India's Republic Day celebration on 26 January next year as the chief guest. This comes as the Quad summit in India is scheduled to take part in the later part of 2024, sources said on Tuesday.

"The Quad Summit in India is proposed to be held later in 2024. We are looking for revised dates as the dates currently under consideration do not work with all the Quad partners", sources said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited President Biden for the Republic Day celebrations, as part of the plans to host the Quad leaders’ summit in January next year.

The Quad in India was reportedly scheduled to take place on 27 Jan next year right after Republic Day but has been now postponed to a later part in 2024. 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 comment on the invitation by India.

As history goes, the Quad summit gets rescheduled every time. Earlier this year in May, the Quad summit in Sydney was rescheduled to take part in Hiroshima after the US President cancelled his trip to Sydney. The summit in Hiroshima took place on the sidelines of the G7 summit. In the next summit to be hosted by India, the quad leaders will deliberate ways to strengthen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific to tackle China's growing assertiveness in the region.

There have been a plethora of visits by US officials to India this year. Currently, FBI director Christopher Wary is on a trip to New Delhi which comes against the backdrop of the US's allegations about an Indian link to a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil.