India invites Joe Biden to be the Chief Guest at the 2024 Republic Day Parade

According to the United States Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited United States President Joe Biden to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade on 26 January 2024.According to Ambassador Garcetti, the invitation was extended by Prime Minister Modi during the sidelines of the G20 Summit held in New Delhi in September 2023.

If Joe Biden accepts the invitation, then Joe Biden will be the second American president after Barack Obama to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade. Former American President Barack Obama was the chief guest in 2015.

Since 1950 the government of India has been invting a foreign dignitary to be the chief guest at its Republic Day parade held every year on 26th January, to mark the implementation of the Indian constitution in 1950. 

There were no foreign chief guests in the years 1952,1953, 1966,2021, and 2022 for various reasons.

How are the chief guests for Republic Day selected?

Invitation to a foreign dignitary to be the chief guest of the Republic Day is extended by the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Selecting a chief guest normally starts six months before the Republic Day parade.

The MEA considers a variety of factors before selecting a foreign dignitary. The MEA considers India’s economic, political, and military relationship with the concerned country. 

The MEA then seeks the approval of the Prime Minister. After the approval, the MEA asks its ambassador in the concerned country whether the foreign dignitary is available on that date or not. This is necessary as the head of the state might have other commitments.

Interesting facts about the chief guest at the Republic Day parade 

Republic Day parade is organised by the Union Ministry of Defence at the Kartavya Path (earlier known as Raj Path) in New Delhi on 26 January every year. On this day in 1950, the Indian constitution was promulgated in India. 

•  President Sukarno of Indonesia was the first chief guest at the Republic Day parade in 1950. 
• United Kingdom Monarch Queen Elizabeth II was the first women chief guest. She was chief guest in 1961.
• 2 Pakistani has been the chief guest at the Republic Day parade. The Governor General of Pakistan, Malik Ghulam Muhammad, was the chief guest in 1955, and Rana Abdul Hamid, Minister of the Pakistani government, was the chief guest in 1965.
• Nelson Mandela of South Africa (1995 ) and Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar (1991) are the two Nobel prize winners who have been the chief guests of the Republic Day parade. 
• Jacques Chirac of France has the distinction of participating as the chief guest, once as a President and once as a Prime Minister. Jacques Chirac was the chief guest at the 1976 parade as the Prime Minister of France. He again was the chief guest at the 1998 parade as the President of France. 
• Only once has an American president been the chief guest. Barack Obama was the chief guest in 2015.
• In 2018, all 10 leaders of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) were the chief guests at the Republic Day parade.
• In 2023, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah-al Sisi was the chief guest at the 2023 parade.