Swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi election results on 16 May 2014, Modi met the President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 20 May where Mukherjee invited Modi to form the next government. The BJP had won 282 seats and their alliance National Democratic Alliance won a total of 336 seats in the 543-seat Lok Sabha, the strongest mandate since the 1984 elections where Indian National Congress had won. The BJP then announced that Modi will be sworn in on 26 May 2014 at 6 p.m. IST. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi which has been used as the
Swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi President's Estate 34 Lakhs. The guest-list includes various heads of the states, political parties and groups along with leaders of SAARC countries. The event is hence viewed as a "major diplomatic event". All SAARC heads of government attended. The ceremony was the first swearing-in of an Indian Prime Minister where all SAARC heads were invited. After the ceremony, Modi described this new government's first major initiative in foreign policy as the "right decision at the right time". Prime Minister of Tibetan Government-in-Exile Lobsang Sangay attended the ceremony. Chinese government opposed the invitation to the Tibetan leader. Outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan