How Republic Day Chief Guest is selected in India?

 

Why is the invitation for Republic Day a special honor?

While the visit of the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade is similar to a state visit by any foreign high dignitary given the ceremony involved it is the highest honour that India accords to guest in protocol terms.

    

 The Chief Guest is given the Ceremonial guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan he attend the reception in the evening hosted by the President of India he lays a wreath at Rajghat, there is a banquet in his Honour, a lunch hosted by the Prime Minister, and calls by the Vice-President and the External Affairs Minister.

  The centrepiece of the visit  

The centrepiece of the visit is that the chief Guest accompanies the President of India, flanked by the horse-mounted President's Bodyguard to the saluting base on Rajpath from where the President reviews the Republic Day parade.

                                    

 The visit of the Chief Guest is full of symbolism    

"It portrays the Chief Guest as participating in India's pride and happiness and reflect the friendship between the two peoples represented by the President of India and the Chief Guest"

  How does India choose the Chief Guest for Republic Day?

The process starts 6 months ago in the MEA 

The government extend its invitation to a Head of State or Government after careful consideration. This process commences almost six months ahead of Republic Day.

The MEA considers a number of issues, the most important of which is the nature of India's relationship with the country concerned.

Other factors include political, economic, and commercial relations the neighbourhood, military cooperation, prominence in the regional grouping, or past association in the Non-Aligned Movement.

India's emotional attachment with the NAM countries remains strong, even as development imperatives such as trade, technical knowhow and financial cooperation have opened up new vistas and opportunities for closer relationships with other countries.

All these considerations often point in different directions and choosing a Chief Guest, therefore often poses challenges

After MEA it goes to PM and then to President.

The MEA after deliberations seeks the Prime Minister's approval after which the clearance of Rashtrapati Bhavan is sought.

Therefore India's ambassadors in the concerned countries try to ascertain discreetly the potential Chief Guests programme and availability for Republic Day.

Once this laborious process has been completed the territorial divisions in the MEA work towards meaningful talks and agreements while the Chief of Protocol works on the details of the programme and logistics.

All aspects of the visit are gone through such as Security, logistic, medical requirement, if necessary, with the active cooperation of the concerned Department of the Government of India and the government of the states which the chief guest may visit before coming to New Delhi, or after Republic Day.

So what is the big picture of the Chief Guest's visit?

Various Chief Guests and their Ambassador in New Delhi have been profuse in their praise for India's ceremonies and the protocol it accords.

India's hospitality reflects its traditions, culture and history