Over the years, several dignitaries have graced our Republic Day celebrations. From Queen Elizabeth II to Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, here are other world leaders who made it to R-Day celebrations. This Republic Day, French President Emmanuel Macron is the guest of honour, marking 25 years of India-France strategic partnership.
He is the sixth French leader to be invited to the Republic Day fete. It began with President Jacques Chirac in 1976, followed by Valery Giscard d'Estaing in 1980, Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008, and Francois Hollande in 2016.
In 1957, the union defence minister of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov was present. It was USSR president Georgy Zhukov in 1960 and in 1961, England's Queen Elizabeth II. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the prime minister then.
In 1967, the guest of honour was Afghanistan's King Mohammed Zahir Shah. In 1971, it was Tanzania president Julius Nyerere and in 1995, it was South African president Nelson Mandela.
In 2002, when Mauritian president Cassam Uteem was the guest of honour, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the PM. In 2007 it was Russian President Vladimir Putin and in 2012, it was Thailand PM Yingluck Shinawatra.
In 2013, the guest of honour was Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and in 2014, it was Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, while, in 2015, US President Barack Obama graced the occasion and at the time, the prime minister was the current PM Narendra Modi.
In 2017, it was the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and in 2018, it was the heads of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states. These included: 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; Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of Vietnam.
In 2019, it was South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, while in 2020, it was Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. And in 2023, it was Egypt president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.