World leaders who attended Indian Republic Day functions

LAHORE: While US President Barack Obama will be the chief guest on the Indian Republic Day on Monday (today), dozens of distinguished world leaders have been invited as guests. Indonesian President Sukarno was the first-ever foreign dignitary to attend the ceremonious parades on the Republic Day of India on January 26, 1950, writes Sabir Shah.
Pakistan’s Governor General Malik Ghulam Muhammad was the chief guest on the Indian Republic Day in 1955 at Rajpath, the boulevard in New Delhi near Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the President of India. After Ghulam Muhammad, President Ayub Khan’s Food and Agriculture Minister, Rana Abdul Hamid, had also attended the Indian Republic Day celebrations in 1965, a few days before the two countries had gone on to fight the 1965 War.
(Reference: Indian author Sreeranga Rajan’s book: “India in world affairs, 1954-56)”.The more globally well-known world kings, queens, military dictators, presidents and prime ministers who have been the chief guests on Indian Republic Day since 1950 include:
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2014), Bhutan’s King Namgyel Wangchuck (2013), Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (2012), Indonesia’s President Bambang Yudhoyono (2011), South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak (2010), Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev (2009), French President Nicolas Sarkozy (2008), Russian President Vladimir Putin (2007), Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah (2006), Brazilian President Lu La Da Silva (2004), Iranian President Mohammed Khatami (2003), Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (1991), Nepal’s King Birendra Bikram Shah (1999), French President Jacques Chirac (1998), British Premier John Major (1997), Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso (1996), South African President Nelson Mandela (1995), Sri Lankan President Jayawardene (1988), Peru’s President Alan Garcia (1987), Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, (1974), French Premier Jacques Chirac (1976), Australian Premier Malcolm Fraser (1979), French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing (1980), Spanish King Juan Carlos (1982), Argentinean President Raul Alfonsin (1985), Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere (1971), Bulgarian Prime Minister Todo Zhivkov (1969), Yugoslavian President Marshall Tito and Soviet President Alexei Kosygin (1968), Cambodia’s King Sihanouk (1963), Britain’s Queen Elizabeth (1961), Soviet leader President Kliment Voroshilov (1960) and China’s Marshall Ye Jianying (1958) etc.
(References: Khaleej Times and Times of India etc)
It is imperative to note that leaders of Russia/USSR, France, Britain, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Nigeria, Indonesia and former Yugoslavia have been invited multiple times on the Indian Republic Day celebrations, which actually honours the coming into force the country’s Constitution on January 26, 1950 written by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
France and Bhutan have the distinction of being the guest of honour for the maximum number of times (four), followed by three visits each from the leaders of Mauritius and USSR/Russia.