Facts about Republic Day Parade guests - Fusion - WeRIndia

Each year a guest from other country visits the celebrations of Republic Day Parade.

This year South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been invited to grace the occasion as the guest of honour.

This is the first time for the President Ramaphosa to visit as the head of state.

He is the second President of South Africa to grace the occasion of Republic Day. The first President was Nelson Mandela.

Here are some fascinating facts about past guests who graced the Republic Day Parade:

• Indonesian President Sukarno was the chief guest of first Republic Day parade in 1950.
• Two guests were invited by India for the first time in 1956. They were, Chancellor of the Exchequer R. A. Butler from the United Kingdom, and Chief Justice Kōtarō Tanaka from Japan.
• Queen Elizabeth II was invited in 1961. She along with Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip graced the occasion.
• Guests from Pakistan were invited twice, one was Governor General Malik Ghulam Muhammad who visited the parade at Rajpath in 1955 and another one was Food and Agriculture Minister Rana Abdul Hamid who visited in 1965.
• Guests from the UK and France have been invited for five times each which is highest number of invitations for any country.
• No guests were invited in 1966. The President of India at that time was S. Radhakrishnan who was ill. For the first time, the President could not take the salute at the Republic Day parade.
• Afghanistan was invited only once and it was in 1967.
• The US has also been invited only once in 2015 during the tenure of President Barack Obama.
• Three Nobel laureates were invited, President Nelson Mandela in 1955, President Barack Obama in 2015, and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in 2018 also graced the Republic Day celebrations.
• Highest number of guests have been invited in 2018. These include the leaders of 10 ASEAN countries.
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