In the absence of the President who has to perform Presidential functions?

Concept: The Constitution builds in a stand-in arrangement for the Head of State so that executive continuity is never disrupted merely because the President personally cannot act at a given moment.

Application: Under Article 65 of the Constitution, whenever the President is unable to discharge functions owing to absence, illness, or any other cause, the Vice-President discharges those functions until the President resumes duty; and under Article 62, if the office of President itself falls vacant, a new President must be elected within six months, with the Vice-President acting as President in the meantime under Article 65.

Cross-check / contrast with the other offices:

• The Governor heads a State's own executive and has no role at all in the Union's line of succession.

• The Prime Minister heads the Council of Ministers — a government office kept constitutionally separate from the ceremonial Head-of-State office.

• The Chief Justice of India administers the oath of office only to the President (Article 60); it has no role in stepping in for the President during an ordinary absence — that function belongs to the Vice-President alone (Article 65).

This also matches the constitutional design of Article 63 (which creates the office of Vice-President) together with Article 65 (which designates this office as the President's stand-in) — distinct from the Vice-President's separate role as ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha — confirming that this office, not the Governor, Prime Minister, or Chief Justice, is the one built for this contingency.