India is all set to celebrate its 76th Republic Day on Sunday, January 26. It commemorates the day the Indian Constitution came into effect in 1950. Since then, the nation has celebrated Republic Day with a grand ceremony each year, and several world leaders have marked their presence at the event.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will be the chief guest at the 76th Republic Day celebrations. It’s Mr Prabowo’s first visit to India as President after assuming office in October 2024.
Let’s take a look at all the prominent chief guests over the years:
2024: Emmanuel Macron, President of France
2023: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of Egypt.
2020: Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil
2019: Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa
2018: All the heads of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states were invited as chief guests. Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei; Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia; Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia; Thongloun Sisoulith, Prime Minister of Laos; Najib Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia; Aung San Suu Kyi, State counsellor of Myanmar; Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines; Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore; Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand and Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of Vietnam.
2017: Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi
2016: Francois Hollande, President of France
2015: Barack Obama, President of the United States
2014: Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan
2013: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, King of Bhutan
2012: Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand
More notable names from the past:
1957: Georgy Zhukov, Minister of Defense, Soviet Union
1960: Kliment Voroshilov, President of the USSR
1961: Queen Elizabeth, UK
1965: Rana Abdul Hamid, Minister of Food and Agriculture, Pakistan
1967: King Mohammed Zahir Shah, Afghanistan
1971: Julius Nyerere, President of Tanzania
1995: Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa
2002: Cassam Uteem, President of Mauritius
2003: Mohammed Khatami, President of Iran
2007: Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
India will celebrate its 76th Republic Day with an enthralling exhibition of its military prowess and cultural heritage at the Kartavya Path in the national capital.