Joe Biden May Not Visit India In January

US President Joe Biden is not expected to travel to India next month to grace the Republic Day celebrations as the Chief Guest, people familiar with the matter said today.

With Biden understood to have not planned a trip to India in January, it is learnt that the summit of four-nation coalition Quad is also not taking place next month as expected earlier.

In September, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited President Biden to be the Chief Guest for the Republic Day celebrations on January 26. However, there was no comment by India on the invitation.

Separately, sources told news agency PTI that the Quad summit is not taking place in India in January and it is now proposed to be held in the country in the later part of 2024.

It was expected that the Quad summit would take place around January 27 if Biden accepted India’s invite.

“The Quad Summit in India is proposed to be held later in 2024. We are looking for revised dates as the dates currently under consideration do not work with all the Quad partners,” a source told Press Trust of India.

The Quad or Quadrilateral coalition comprises India, the US, Japan and Australia.

It is learnt that Washington has indicated to New Delhi that President Biden would not be able to travel to India for the Republic Day celebrations.

There has been a flurry of visits by senior US officials to India in the last few months.

Last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin visited India for the ‘2+2’ ministerial dialogue.

US Principal Deputy NSA Jonathan Finer visited India last week and, currently, FBI Director Christopher Wray is on a trip to New Delhi.