Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the leaders of all ten countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations, or Asean, will be chief guests at the Republic Day parade. During his Mann ki Baat radio show, he said it was the first time in India’s history that all 10 leaders were invited at the same time.
Modi also talked about the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, which proposes to criminalise the practice of triple talaq, and said he was proud that the government had implemented steps to abolish it.
The prime minister lauded the government’s decision to change the rule that required male guardians to accompany Muslim women during Hajj. “It was discriminatory,” Modi said. “We have changed this rule, and this year, around 1,300 women applied to go without a male guardian.”
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