French President Emmanuel Macron accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invite to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 next year.
“I’ll be here to celebrate with you!,” wrote Macron on X (formerly Twitter), thanking PM Modi, whom he referred to as “my dear friend”, for the invite.
Macron is the sixth French leader who will be the chief guest at the 2024 Republic Day parade. Former French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac graced the event twice, in 1976 and 1998. Former presidents Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, attended the celebrations in 1980, 2008, and 2016, respectively.
Earlier, in September, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said President of the United States, Joe Biden, was invited to be the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations. However, Biden reportedly declined the invitation and the Quad Summit which was to be held around Republic Day was also postponed.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was the chief guest at the 2023 Republic Day celebrations.
In July this year, PM Modi attended the Bastille Day celebrations as the Guest of Honour. Bastille Day is celebrated as the National Day of France. It is marked on July 14 every year.
India and France are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their Strategic Partnership this year.
Every year, India invites foreign leaders to attend its Republic Day celebrations. There were only two instances — in 2021 and 2022 — when no Republic Day chief guest was invited due to the Covid-19 pandemic.