New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday announced that there will be no foreign leader as the chief guest at the upcoming Republic Day celebrations due to the global situation arising out of the coronavirus pandemic.
It will be for the first time in over five decades that India will not have a chief guest at the Republic Day parade.
“Due to the global COVID-19 situation, it has been decided that this year there will not be a foreign head of state or head of government as the chief guest for our Republic Day event,” MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at a media briefing.
The decision comes days after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled his visit to India to grace the Republic Day celebrations in view of the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom.
India had invited Johnson as the Republic Day chief guest and he accepted India’s invitation, calling it “a great honour”.
However, on January 5, Johnson…