South African President to be the chief guest for the Republic Day parade in Delhi

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will be the chief guest at next year’s Republic Day celebrations.

Ramaphosa and Modi met at Pretoria, South Africa, in July. Credit: Scoopnest

By Prarthana Mitra

Putting an end to speculation surrounding India’s Republic Day celebrations for 2019, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Thursday that he had accepted the invitation to be the chief guest at the parade, according to the Indian Express.

Whom does he replace?

This comes after preparations suffered an embarrassing setback last month, as US President Donald Trump turned down Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation citing scheduling constraints.

“President Trump was honoured by Prime Minister Modi’s invitation for him to be Chief Guest of India’s Republic Day on January 26, 2019 but is unable to participate due to scheduling constraints,” a White House spokesperson had said when asked about Trump’s decision to decline Modi’s invitation. It is possible that Trump might be addressing both Houses of the US Congress late January, for the annual State of the Union (SOTU).

Several reports had then claimed that following Trump’s refusal, it was unlikely that any other global power would accept the invitation. On the other hand, the choice of Trump as the chief guest drew heavy criticism from the opposition who called the move a failure of democracy. However, Modi clarified that he had invited Trump for a bilateral visit to India during their talks in Washington last year, and extended the invitation for Republic Day which could coincide with said summit.

In 2015, Barack Obama became the first US president to accept the invitation to attend the grand celebration that takes place at Rajpath in New Delhi every year.

South Africa and the Gandhian connect

Next year’s Republic Day celebrations will also commemorate the 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth. The South African president, who is an ardent follower of Gandhian principles, will speak about the Father of the Nation, who shared a prolific history with the African country in the early years of his legal career. It was during the apartheid movement that Gandhi learnt and mastered the form of protest that he used extensively during India’s freedom struggle civil disobedience.

Ramaphosa who assumed power in February this year, first met Modi in June, at the BRICS Summit in the South African capital Johannesburg, which is where Modi reportedly extended the invitation, according to official sources in the Indian government. It was keeping Gandhi’s birth anniversary in mind that the Centre chose to invite Ramaphosa, said people close to the planning of the event.

Prarthana Mitra is a staff writer at Qrius

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South African President to be the chief guest for the Republic Day parade in Delhi

Whom does he replace?

South Africa and the Gandhian connect

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