Donald Trump 'looks forward' to visit India; will he be next Republic Day chief guest?

US President Donald Trump 'looks forward' to visiting India to reflect on the “amazingly positive” trajectory in India-US relationship, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asia Region Alice Wells said on Friday.

“President Trump does look forward to visiting India again to reflect on what has been an amazingly positive trajectory in our relationship,” news agency PTI quoted Wells as saying.

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The statement from Wells, a top Trump administration official, came in response to a question that whether the US president will accept Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation to be the chief guest at India's 2019 Republic Day celebrations in 2019.

Earlier, Modi government had sent an invitation to Trump to visit India next year to be the chief guest at India's Republic Day celebrations. Wells, however, added that it was not immediately clear when the US President's visit to India will take place.

On Monday, Trump had a brief interaction with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during a high-level event on counter-narcotics hosted by the US at the United Nations.

“I love India, give my regards to my friend PM (Narendra) Modi,” Trump had Swaraj.

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In 2015, then US President Barack Obama became the first sitting American president to grace the Republic Day celebrations. Since then, India’s Republic Day celebrations have become a high-profile affair with top international leaders, including then French President Francois Hollande, UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, attending the event.