2023 Republic Day Chief Guest: India invites Head of Islamic State for the first time – Leaders of friendly nations have graced India’s Republic Day celebrations since 1950, when the then Indonesian President Sukarno was invited as the chief guest .
In 2023, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in January. This is the first time that the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt will be the chief guest at our Republic Day celebrations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a formal invitation to El-Sisi which was handed over to the Egyptian President by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on October 16. Both countries are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year.
Egypt has been invited as the ‘guest country’ during India’s G-20 presidency in 2022-23. India and Egypt enjoy warm and friendly relations based on civilizational and deep people-to-people ties.
Chief Guests of Republic Day Celebrations in Previous Years
In 2018, the Republic Day parade featured the leadership of the entire Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including 10 heads of state. In 2020, Jair Bolsonaro, the then President of Brazil, was the chief guest.
Former US President Barack Obama (2015), Russian President Vladimir Putin (2007), former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (2008) and François Hollande (2016) have also been chief guests at Republic Day celebrations in the past.