New Delhi, July 13: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited United States President Donald Trump to be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day 2019 Parade in New Delhi. According to reports, Indian authorities had sent an invite to trump in April this year and have been following up on it closely to ensure Trump accepts it. Reports also say that while there is no official word from the US yet, the Trump administration is considering the invite.

This comes at a time when India and the US have been having differences over various issues including trade, the S-400 deal with Russia and the oil imports from Iran. Reports say that India has been holding multiple rounds of diplomatic engagements to convince Trump to accept the invite and be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade on January 26, 2019.

If Trump accepts the invite and visits India on Republic Day, it will be a huge win for Modi's foreign policy that has come under attack from the Opposition in the recent past.

In 2015, which was Modi's first Republic Day parade as PM, the then US President Barack Obama was the Chief Guest at the Republic Day Parade. This was followed by French President Francois Hollande in 2016 and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2017. On the Republic Day parade of 2018, the leaders of all 10 ASEAN countries made it to the event.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 13, 2018 09:53 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).