How is the chief guest for Republic Day parade selected?

New Delhi: India Gate illuminated with hues of the Tricolour, for the forthcoming Republic Day celebrations, in New Delhi, on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)(PTI1_24_2019_000226B)

This year, India will be commemorating 70 years of being a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. Like every year, a grand parade will be taken out and the nation will celebrate Republic Day with pomp and grandeur.

The chief guest for this year’s parade will be South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. But have you ever wondered how the chief guest for Republic Day is picked?

The visit of the chief guest is actually similar to a State visit, in that, it is the highest honour that can be bestowed on our guest in terms of protocol. He/ she is given the ceremonial guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan, attends the evening reception hosted by the President of India and lays a wreath at Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial.

The process of selection of the chief guest is rather laborious and tedious, and commences around six months ahead of Republic Day.

After the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) carefully scrutinizes India’s relations with the concerned country, the government sends an invite to their Head of State.

Among other factors that the MEA considers, including political and economic relations and military cooperation, is the past association with the Non Aligned Movement (NAM). NAM was a movement joined by most newly liberated countries to collectively fight colonialism and apartheid.

After due deliberations, the MEA seeks the Prime Minister’s approval, after which clearance of the President is sought. After the potential chief guest is shortlisted, Indian ambassadors in the concerned country are asked to discreetly find out if the dignitary is available for the event and is not preoccupied with unavoidable engagement.

After all of this, the Indian Chief of Protocol (CoP) and his counterpart in the concerned country work out a detailed plan chalking out the logistics, security, medical requirements if any, etc. The plan, once finalized, is followed minute-by-minute with military precision.

The chief guest is also decided on the basis of the other country’s interest and availability of the dignitary. The natural corollary is that the guest should be treated with utmost honour and they should be satisfied with their visit.

This year’s choice – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa – was also made keeping in mind that 2019 also marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who had a major role to play in the country’s initial freedom struggle.

Earlier, there were reports of US President Donald Trump being the chief guest at the Republic Day Parade, but he had declined the invitation citing a “crowded calendar”.