President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt will be the distinguished guest at the Republic Day celebrations in January, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Sunday.
"This is the first time that the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt will be the Chief Guest at our Republic Day," a report, the MEA stated.
A formal invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi was delivered to Egyptian President al-Sisi on October 16 by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
The two countries' diplomatic connections were established 75 years ago this year.
According to the report, Egypt has been asked to participate as a "Guest Country" during India's G-20 Presidency in 2022–2023.
"India and Egypt enjoy warm and friendly relations based on civilizational and deep-rooted people-to-people ties," the statement read.
Since 1950, when Sukarno, the president of Indonesia at the time, was invited as a special guest, leading figures of allied countries have attended the Republic Day celebrations.
In 1952, 1953, or 1966, no foreign head of state participated Republic Day events.
Boris Johnson, the then-prime minister of the United Kingdom, was welcomed as the chief guest in 2021, but his trip had to be postponed because of the increase in COVID-19 infections in Britain.
The leaders of the five Central Asian Republics, who were visiting Delhi for the India-Central Asia Summit, were expected to join this year's Republic Day celebrations as the chief dignitaries.
The appointment was postponed, though, because of the increase in COVID-19 incidences in India. The meeting between India and Central Asia was held digitally.
In 2018, all ten heads of state from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were gathered at the Republic Day parade.
In 2020, the special guest was Jair Bolsonaro, who was the president of Brazil at the time.
Former French presidents Nicholas Sarkozy (2008), Francois Hollande (2016), former US president Barack Obama (2015), and former Russian president Vladimir Putin (2007) have all attended Republic Day ceremonies as the primary dignitaries.
