US President Donald Trump has turned down India's invitation to be the chief guest during the Republic Day Parade. This comes at a time when relations between the countries are not in the best of health, reports India Today.
The US had recently issued warning against India if it goes ahead with signing the S-400 missile system deal with Russia. India signed the deal for five such systems when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India earlier this month.
Besides this, the Trump administration has been threatening India with sanctions if it continues to procure oil from Iran. India continues to import oil from Iran.
India Today TV has learnt that the reason cited by the Trump administration to turn down the Republic Day invite is that President Trump has other pressing engagement on the same date. Trump reportedly has to deliver the State of The Union (SOTU) address and its timing conflicts with the Republic Day celebrations.
However, in 2015, when the then US President Barack Obama visited India for Republic Day, the date of the SOTU address was postponed. The date of the address is not fixed and but has to be made between January 22 and the first week of February.