On Friday, 22 December, India announced that French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the Republic Day Celebrations next month as the event's chief guest.
"At the invitation of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of France, will be visiting India as the Chief Guest for the 75th Republic Day celebrations," the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
The announcement comes soon after US President Joe Biden was unable to accept New Delhi's invitation paving the way for Macron's visit to become the sixth time that a French leader will attend the celebrations as chief guest since 1976.
“As strategic partners, India and France share a high degree of convergence on a range of regional and global issues. This year, we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership."
Just this year, PM Narendra Modi visited France for Bastille Day or French National Day celebrations and was the guest of honour for the 14 July parade. Macron had also visited India in September for the G20 Summit.
Previously, French President Jacques Chirac was the chief guest in 1976 and 1998, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing visited in 1980, Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008 and François Hollande in 2016.
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