Sonia Gandhi's 'exclusion' from Namaste Trump irks Milind Deora; 'must honour tradition'

Congress leader Milind Deora expressed his disappointment at the Union Government ignoring Sonia Gandhi, 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. 

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Deora express disappointment

In a tweet on Monday afternoon, Deora stated that he was glad to see his father's work efforts towards improving India and US relations. However, he also mentioned that he was unhappy with the INC President being ignored during the high-profile visit. He mentioned how "old-age democratic traditions" should continue when leaders of the free world meet. 

The Central government has not invited the leader of any political party for any meeting during President Trump's two-day visit to India. The government had however invited the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary and Ghulam Nabi Azad respectively. However, both leaders declined the invitation.

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 organized by a group called the Donald Trump Naagrik Abhinandan Samiti. 

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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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