Swearing-in event attended by leaders of 7 neighboring countries!!

The fact that leaders from the indian Ocean region and the surrounding area, such as President Ranil Wickremesinghe of sri lanka and prime minister Sheikh Hasina of bangladesh, were present at the start of prime minister Narendra Modi's third term underscores the significance New delhi places on these nations. In addition, Prime Ministers Tshering Tobgay of Bhutan, pushpa Kamal Dahal of Nepal, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth of mauritius, ahmed Afif of Seychelles, and Mohamed Muizzu of the maldives attended the swearing-in ceremony. The maldives President's invitation to attend the ceremony surprised diplomatic circles, given the tense relations between Male and New Delhi at the moment.

Modi's swearing-in in 2014 was attended by the leaders of the eight member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), while his inauguration in 2019 was attended by the leaders of the Bay of bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec), as well as mauritius and Kyrgyzstan.

Even though bangladesh was invited to all three swearing-in ceremonies, this is the first time Hasina is speaking on behalf of her nation; in 2014, the speaker of the parliament spoke on behalf of Dhaka while she was on a prearranged visit to japan, and in 2019, former president Abdul Hamid was present as part of a three-nation tour.

Under India's "Neighbourhood First" policy, bangladesh holds a particular position and has profited greatly from billions of dollars that New delhi has given as grants or soft loans to improve road, rail, canal, and energy connectivity. bangladesh is still India's top trading partner in South Asia, despite moving down from fifth to tenth place on the list of the nation's top export destinations.

In order to resolve security concerns pertaining to the strategically important northeastern states, Hasina's administration has worked closely with India. This has included japan aligning its development cooperation in bangladesh with India's connectivity ambitions.