First time ever! No foreign chief guest at Republic Day parade in India
The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday announced that there will be no foreign leader as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations due to the global situation arising out of the coronavirus pandemic.
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It will be for the first time in over five decades that India will not have a chief guest at the Republic Day parade.
MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “Due to the global COVID 19 situation, it has been decided that this year there will not be a foreign head of state or head of government as the chief guest for our Republic Day event,”
The decision was taken after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s last-minute decision to cancel his visit due to the spread of a mutant strain of the coronavirus in the UK.
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India had invited Johnson as the Republic Day chief guest and he accepted India’s invitation, calling it “a great honor”.
However, earlier this month, Johnson cancelled his India visit due to the pandemic that has spread in the UK following the mutant variant.
-PTC News
