Jaishankar to Attend Trump Swearing-in Ceremony

New Delhi: External affairs minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar will represent India at the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States of America, New Delhi announced on Sunday. During the visit, Mr Jaishankar will also meet representatives of the incoming administration and some other dignitaries visiting the US on that occasion”, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said.

This will be Jaishankar’s second visit to the US in less than a month. The ceremony is expected to take place next week around January 20. The external affairs minister had made a week-long visit to the US in December during which he met key functionaries of the outgoing Biden administration, including Antony J. Blinken, as well as members of the Trump transition team.

Jaishankar said Trump has had a positive political view of India and it is in a much more advantageous position than many other countries to build "deeper" relations with his administration and take bilateral ties forward.

Trump is scheduled to visit India sometime this year during the four-nation Quad summit which will be hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr Trump had also visited India in February 2020 during his first term in office from 2017-20.

It is for the second time Trump will be the US President. He served as the 45th President of the US from January 2017 to January 2021.

J.D. Vance will be the new US vice-president.