French President Emmanuel Macron is all set to witness Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi this year. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the invitation.
Taking to social media platform X, Macron wrote, "Thank you for your invitation, my dear friend Narendra Modi. India, on your Republic Day, I’ll be here to celebrate with you!"
Earlier, the External Affairs Ministry had confirmed that the French President was to be the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations on PM Modi's invitation.
"At the invitation of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of France, will be visiting India as the Chief Guest for the 75th Republic Day celebrations," the MEA said in a statement.
Notably, this is the sixth time a French leader will be the chief guest at Republic Day celebrations here in the national capital.
Before Macron, former French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac was the Chief guest on India's Republic Day celebrations in 1976 and 1998, as were former Presidents Valery Giscard d'Estaing, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Francois Hollande in the years 1980, 2008 and 2016, respectively.
This year, the two nations will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership. India and France cooperate closely in various sectors, including defence, space, civil nuclear, trade, investment, education, culture and people-to-people ties.
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