Modi invites Biden to be chief guest at upcoming Republic Day celebrations
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited US President Joe Biden to be the Chief Guest for the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said on Wednesday.
Asked whether the Quad summit is being planned in India around the same time, Garcetti indicated that he was not aware of it. The Quad comprises India, the US, Japan and Australia. It is India's turn to host the annual Quad summit next year.
The US ambassador was asked at an event about the reports that India is considering inviting leaders of the Quad nations to grace the Republic Day celebrations.
US President Biden was invited to the Republic Day celebrations by Prime Minister Modi during the bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Garcetti said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was the chief guest at this year's Republic Day celebrations.
Every year, India invites world leaders to attend its Republic Day celebrations. There was no Republic Day Chief guest in 2021 and 2022 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, the then Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was the chief guest.
In 2019, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was the chief guest at the parade, while in 2018, leaders of all 10 ASEAN countries attended the celebrations.
In 2017, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was the chief guest at celebrations, while the then French President Francois Hollande graced the occasion in 2016.
In 2015, the then US President Barack Obama watched the parade.
In 2014, the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the chief guest at the celebrations, while Bhutan king Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck attended the parade in 2013.
Other heads of state and government who have attended the Republic Day celebrations include Nicolas Sarkozy, Vladimir Putin, Nelson Mandela, John Major, Mohammed Khatami and Jacques Chirac.
The then British Prime Minister John Major had attended the celebrations in 1993, Nelson Mandela participated as then South African President in 1995 while South Korean President President Lee Myung Bak witnessed the parade in 2010.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
