Egypt's president will be the special guest during the Republic Day celebrations

The Ministry of External Affairs announced on Sunday that Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will be the primary guest at the Republic Day celebrations in January. "The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt will be the Chief Guest for our Republic Day for the first time," the MEA stated in a statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent an official invitation to El-Sisi, which was delivered to the Egyptian president on October 16 by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the beginning of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Egypt has been invited to be a "Guest Country" during India's G-20 presidency in 2022-23, according to a statement. "India and Egypt share warm and friendly relations founded on civilisational and deep-rooted people-to-people relationships," according to the statement. Since 1950, when then-Indonesian President Sukarno was invited as the primary guest, leaders of friendly nations have attended the Republic Day celebrations.

The Republic Day celebrations were held without a foreign leader as the primary guest in 1952, 1953, and 1966. The then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was invited as the chief guest in 2021, but his visit had to be cancelled because to an increase of COVID-19 cases in the country. This year, India invited the leaders of the five Central Asian republics, who were scheduled to visit Delhi for the India-Central Asia Summit, to be the principal guests at the Republic Day celebrations.

The visit, however, was cancelled because to an increase of COVID-19 cases in India. The India-Central Asia Summit was held virtually. The entire Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leadership, consisting of ten heads of state, attended the Republic Day parade in 2018. Jair Bolsonaro, the then-President of Brazil, was the chief guest in 2020. Former US President Barack Obama (2015), Russian President Vladimir Putin (2007), and former French Presidents Nicholas Sarkozy (2008) and Francois Hollande (2016) have all been prominent visitors at previous Republic Day events.

(source : PTI)