Foreign delegates, special invitees to attend PM-designate Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony

New Delhi: Leaders from India's neighbourhood and the Indian Ocean Region are among the dignitaries and special invitees who will be attending the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi and his council of ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday evening, officials said.

Surekha Yadav, the pilot of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus-Solapur Vande Bharat train in Maharashtra, is among 10 loco pilots of the Indian Railways who have also been invited to the ceremony.

Necessary arrangements have been made for the guests, including designated enclosures for the council of ministers to be sworn in and the VVIPs, the officials said on Saturday.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan shared a video of the preparation for the grand ceremony which showed a large number of chairs being arranged and covered with white cloth and the laying of a red carpet.

A selected cuisine and speciality of the Rashtrapati Bhavan kitchen would be served to the guests at a banquet to be hosted by President Droupadi Murmu after the swearing-in ceremony, the officials said.

Leaders from India's neighbourhood and the Indian Ocean Region have been invited for the swearing-in ceremony scheduled to begin at 7:15 pm on Sunday, they added.

Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of Maldives Mohamed Muizzu, Vice-President of Seychelles Ahmed Afif, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' and Prime Minister of Bhutan Tshering Tobgay have accepted invitations to the ceremony.

Prachanda will be accompanied by his daughter Ganga Dahal, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Padam Giri and high-ranking officials of the government of Nepal.

Modi will take oath as the prime minister for a third straight term. He and his council of ministers will be sworn in by Murmu following the ruling National Democratic Alliance's victory in a keenly contested Lok Sabha election.

The leaders of regional grouping SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries attended Modi's first swearing-in ceremony when he took the reins as the prime minister after a massive electoral victory for the BJP in 2014.

Leaders of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) countries attended Modi's swearing-in ceremony in 2019 when he became prime minister for the second consecutive term.

The Delhi Police has imposed prohibitory orders and declared the national capital a no-flying zone for June 9 and 10 for the ceremony.