Myanmar Prez reaches Delhi to attend Modi's swearing-in

Myanmar President U Win Myint on Thursday arrived in Delhi to take part in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's oath ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

"Important pillar of our #ActEastPolicy!President of Myanmar, U Win Myint arrives in Delhi to attend the oath-taking ceremony of PM Narendra Modi and the Council of Ministers," External Ministry's spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

He was attending on the behalf of Myanmar's State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is travelling to Europe.

The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled at 7 pm in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. President Ram Nath Kovind will administer the oath of office and secrecy at the function.

Leaders from all BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) member-states have confirmed their attendance for Modi's swearing-in ceremony.

The bloc's member nations include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand besides India.

Notably, Myanmar was not invited during the swearing-in ceremony of Modi in 2014, when he first took the helm as the country's prime minister.

President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid, President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister of Bhutan Lotay Tshering, Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli, and Thailand's Special Envoy Grisada Boonrach will also be present in the national capital for attending the ceremony. The President of Kyrgyzstan, Sooronbay Jeenbekov will also be present at the event.

Several overseas friends of BJP from 15 countries, including the US, Australia, Germany and the UK, have also been invited.