Former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh to skip President's ceremonial banquet dinner for POTUS

Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has stated that he will not be attending the ceremonial banquet hosted by President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday evening for US President Donald Trump.

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No member of the Opposition to be present

News agency PTI reported on Monday evening that Dr. Singh had decided to skip the event, ending all speculation regarding his attendance. With his confirmation, no member of India's opposition party - Indian National Congress (INC) will be present. Earlier, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary and Ghulam Nabi Azad had decided to decline the invitation as well.

The Central government has not invited the leader of any political party for any meeting during President Trump's two-day visit to India. 

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During his last media briefing, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar was asked about inviting opposition leaders for an event, citing the presence of several opposition leaders during the 'Howdy Modi' event in September 2019. Kumar said that he was not aware of any invitees, stating that the event was organised by a group called the Donald Trump Naagrik Abhinandan Samiti. 

Earlier, Congress member Milind Deora expressed his disappointment at the Union Government ignoring Sonia Gandhi - the President of the Indian National Congress (INC) - India's main Opposition party, from diplomatic exchanges with US President Donald Trump during the latter's visit to India. He said that the government should honour traditions. 

READ: Cong's Adhir Ranjan Declines Invite For Trump's Dinner, Cites Sonia Gandhi's Exclusion

President Trump's visit to India 

President Trump, accompanied by the First Lady Melania Trump, and a high-level delegation, arrived in Ahmedabad around noon on Monday for a little less than a 36-hour-long trip. From Ahmedabad, the Trumps will travel to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal at sunset before arriving at the national capital for the main leg of the visit.

On the morning of February 25, the President and the First Lady will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. From there, they will go to Rajghat to pay homage to the 'samadhi' of Mahatma Gandhi.

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