French President Emmanuel Macron will be the chief guest at the 2024 Republic Day celebrations. This is the sixth time that a French leader has been invited as a guest.Â
Before Macron, former French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in 1976 and 1998 and former presidents Valery Giscard d’Estaing Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande were the chief guests in 1980, 2008 and 2016 respectively.
Every year on the occasion of Republic Day, some leader or the other is invited as the chief guest. This year, French President Emmanuel Macron has been invited to attend the Republic Day celebrations as the chief guest.
PM Modi participated in the Bastille Parade
Earlier, French President Macron had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the Bastille Day Parade held in Paris on July 14 as a special guest.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the second Prime Minister of India to be the guest of honor at the Bastille Day Parade. Earlier in 2009, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had attended the parade as a guest.
Indian Army contingent displayed in parade
This year, India is showing its friendly relations with France by inviting the French President. A 241-member Indian Armed Forces contingent from all three services also took part in the parade to mark the 25th anniversary of the India-France strategic partnership.
The Indian Army contingent was led by the Punjab Regiment along with the Rajputana Rifles Regiment. Along with this, Rafale jets of the Indian Air Force participated in the fly past during the parade.
India was visited for G20 summit
French President Macron also visited India in September this year to participate in the G20 summit chaired by India. President Macron and Prime Minister Modi also held a bilateral meeting in Delhi on September 10 on the sidelines of the G20 summit. After the meeting, PM Modi said he reiterated his commitment to take India-France relations to new heights of progress.
The two leaders reiterated their commitment to strengthen defense cooperation through partnership in design and expansion of production in India and called for early finalization of the defense industrial roadmap.
Macron is the sixth French leader
This is the sixth time that a French leader has been invited as a guest. Before Macron, former French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in 1976 and 1998 and former presidents Valery Giscard d’Estaing, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande were the chief guests in 1980, 2008 and 2016 respectively.
Biden was expected to attend
Earlier it was expected that US President Joe Biden would be invited as the chief guest on the occasion of Republic Day. In fact, in September, US Ambassador Eric Garcetti had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will invite the US President on the occasion of Republic Day this year. However, no update has come out yet regarding this.
