Jan 20, 2025 10:42 PM IST
Jaishankar, who is representing India at Trump’s inauguration as the special envoy of PM Modi, is set to participate in a meeting of Quad foreign ministers
NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar is carrying a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for US President Donald Trump, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.
Jaishankar, who is representing India at Trump’s inauguration in Washington as the special envoy of Modi, is set to participate in a meeting of Quad foreign ministers, the people said on condition of anonymity.
“Privileged to represent [India] as External Affairs Minister and Special Envoy of PM at the Swearing-In Ceremony of the 47th President of the United States of America today in Washington DC,” Jaishankar said in a post on X.
Jaishankar also attended the Inauguration Day Prayer Service at St John’s Church on Monday morning. Ahead of the inauguration ceremony, Jaishankar held separate meetings with his Australian and Japanese counterparts – Penny Wong and Takeshi Iwaya – and discussed bilateral relations and issues related to Quad.
The people said Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, played a key role in the efforts to put together a meeting of the Quad foreign ministers on the margins of the inauguration ceremony. This is the first time that foreign leaders have been invited to the inauguration of a US president.
While confirming that Jaishankar is carrying a letter from the prime minister for Trump, the people said the Indian government has had a practice of sending special envoys of the prime minister to the swearing-in ceremony of foreign heads of state and government in recent years.
In this context, the people said defence minister Rajnath Singh attended the swearing-in ceremony of the Nigerian president in May 2023, Union minister Kiren Rijiju participated in the swearing-in ceremony of the president of the Maldives in November 2023, Union minister Nitin Gadkari joined the inauguration of the Iranian president in July 2024, and minister of state for external affairs Pabitra Margherita joined the swearing-in of the presidents of Indonesia and Mexico in October 2024.
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