The Ministry of External Affairs announced on November 27, 2022, that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi to be the keynote speaker at the India’s Republic Day celebration in January 2023. The postponement of planned guests in 2021 and 2022 because of COVID-19 means that Mr. Sisi will be the first such guest since 2020.
The Egyptian President will be attending the celebration as its Chief Guest for the first time, the MEA announced in a statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official invitation to al-Sisi was delivered to the Egyptian president on October 16 by External Affairs Minister Sri S. Jaishankar.
This year marks the 75th year that diplomatic ties have existed between the two nations. In the statement, it was revealed that Egypt would be a “Guest” during India’s G-20 Presidency in 2022–2023.
According to the statement, “India and Egypt enjoy warm and friendly relations based on civilizational and deep-rooted people-to-people ties.” Since 1950, when then-Indonesian President Sukarno was invited as the chief guest, leaders of friendly nations have attended the Republic Day celebrations.
The prime minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, was scheduled to be the special guest in 2021, but his trip was canceled due to the spread of COVID-19. This year, India’s Republic Day ceremonies were hosted by the five Central Asian Republics’ heads of state, who were in Delhi for the India-Central Asia Summit.
However, increasing cases of COVID-19 in India forced the cancellation of the trip. The India-Central Asia Summit was held in a virtual format. The 10 heads of state that make up the ASEAN leadership were all present during the 2018 Republic Day parade. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attended as a chief guest in 2020.
Chief guest at the Republic Day ceremonies have included former U.S. President Barack Obama (2015), Russian President Vladimir Putin (2007), French Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy (2008) and Francois Hollande (2016), and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attended as a chief guest in 2020.
by newslines365.com
