US president Donald Trump has received an invitation to visit India, but no decision has been taken yet, the White House said on Wednesday (1).
The White House stated that Trump was invited to be the chief guest at 2019 Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi by India’s prime minister Narendra Modi.
“I know that the invitation has been extended, but I do not believe that a final decision has been made,” the White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and defense secretary James Mattis are headed to New Delhi in September for the first India-US 2+2 Dialogue with their Indian counterpart external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The summit would begin discussions on the process of a presidential visit next year, said Sanders.
"The United States and India have a deep and strategic partnership and we are going to continue to build on that partnership and advance co-operation," Sanders said. "I think, you will see that in the meeting that would take place in September."
The dialogue was initially set for July, but the US postponed the meeting due to “unavoidable reasons.”
The dialogue was announced last year during Modi’s meeting with Trump at the White House. Since then, the two countries have tried to schedule the dialogue multiple times with several dates being considered.
Piyush Goyal and Jonathan Reynolds tour the Royal Opera House in London
