Macron will be the guest of honor at India’s Republic Day celebrations

PARIS, Dec 22: India has invited French President Emmanuel Macron to be the chief guest at the countrys national day celebrations next month, in what Macrons office described on Friday as a powerful gesture for the two nations ties.

The visit for Republic Day on Jan. 26 will be Macrons third to India as president. The event marks the 74th anniversary of the adoption of Indias Constitution on Jan. 26, 1950, nearly three years after it won independence from British colonial rule.

Indias official guest in January 2023 was Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, for a 90-minute parade that ended with a flyby featuring 75 air force fighters, including French-made Rafale jets, transport planes and helicopters.
Previous French guests for the event have included all of Macrons immediate predecessors as Frances president: François Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac.

Macrons office called the invitation "an extremely strong gesture."

Indias External Affairs Ministry described the two nations as "strategic partners" and said: "India and France share a high degree of convergence on a range of regional and global issues."

Macron also visited India in 2018 and again for a Group of 20 summit in September.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was guest of honor this year at Frances annual Bastille Day parade in Paris on July 14.    —AP