No Foreign Head Of The State In Republic Day
- 14-Jan-2021
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Centre has decided to celebrate Republic Day event without any foreign chief guest. This is the first time in 55 years that India is not going to have any chief guest for the Republic Day parade.
On Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava tuned that due to the global Covid-19 situation, it has been decided that this year there will not be any foreign head of state or government as the chief guest for our Republic Day event.The last time India did not send an invitation to any head of state was in 1966 due to the untimely demise of then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. The new government headed by Indira Gandhi was sworn in on January 24, 1966. It happened only two days ahead of the Republic Day parade.
The Republic Day celebrations have been truncated this year on account of the pandemic. Last year’s Independence Day celebrations had also been scaled down.
An invitation to be chief guest at India’s Republic Day is a special honour for the visiting foreign dignitary. New Delhi has been weaving strategy with hospitality while deciding on the chief guest. The choice is dictated by a number of factors like strategic and diplomatic, business interests, and geo-politics.
