Donald Trump declines India's invite to attend Republic Day parade: reports

New Delhi: US President Donald Trump has reportedly turned down India’s invitation to be the chief guest at the 2019 Republic Day celebrations.

India, in April this year, had officially sent the Republic Day invite to the US president.

In early August, White House acknowledged that Trump received an invitation. "I know that the invitation has been extended, but I do not believe that a final decision has been made," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders had said.

According to reports, US president’s ‘State of the Union address’ around that time is a possible reason for declining the invitation.

Trump declining India's invitation comes weeks after India-US witnessed tension over a range of geopolitical issues, including India’s defence purchases from Russia and buying oil from Iran.

India recently signed USD 5.2 billion deal for S-400 Triumf missile system with Russia. The deal came despite the US saying that any countries transacting with Russia’s defence and intelligence sector would face tough sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

The Trump administration had also given a November 4 deadline to its allies to bring down their import of Iranian oil to zero, but India continued to import the oil.