US President Joe Biden unlikely to travel to India for Republic Day celebrations in January

US President Joe Biden is not expected to visit India in January for Republic Day celebrations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited his American counterpart to be the Chief Guest for the January 26 celebrations earlier this year. India is set to host the next edition of the Quad summit – initially scheduled for January. 

People familiar with the matter said that the POTUS was unlikely to make the trip to India in early January. The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue Summit is also being postponed with officials now on the lookout for revised dates.

“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 told PTI.

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US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti revealed in September that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited POTUS Biden as the Chief Guest for the Republic Day celebrations on January 26. However there has been no official comment about the invite from India. 

Prime Minister Modi had announced in May that India would host the next Quad leaders' Summit. The meeting was expected to take place around January 27 if Biden had accepted the invite from New Delhi. It is now proposed that the country host the Quad summit in the later part of 2024.

Both countries face elections in the coming year and a Quad summit in late 2024 could potentially see new leaders in attendance. India will hold Lok Sabha elections between April and May 2024. Meanwhile the US Presidential will take place months later in early November 2024.

Reports in November indicated that a Summit after march would be inconvenient for India and the United States. New Delhi had previously conveyed to three other member nations that it would like to host the Quad leaders in the later part of January.

(With inputs from agencies)