India invites Trump as 2019 Republic Day chief guest

The Indian government has invited US President Donald Trump to be the chief guest at the 2019 Republic Day celebrations.

According to reports, the US government has indicated that the Trump administration is "favourably considering" the invitation, which was sent in April 2018. India is positively awaiting the response.

The news comes amid tensions between India and the United States regarding trade tariffs, oil imports from Iran, and New Delhi's deal with Russia over S-400 defence missile system.

India had hosted former US President Barack Obama at the Republic Day celebrations in 2015. In 2016, former French president Francois Hollande was the chief guest at the celebration while in 2017 Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was the guest in the 2017 parade.

In 2018, in an extraordinary move, leaders of 10 ASEAN countries- Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Laos and Brunei- attended the Republic Day parade.

Featured Image: Sangbad Pratidin

(With inputs from The Times of India)