French President Francois Hollande to be 2016 Republic Day chief guest: reports
France is yet to confirm Hollande’s attendance for the ceremony
France is yet to confirm Hollande’s attendance for the ceremony
New Delhi:
France President Francois Hollande is going to be India's chief guest at the 67th Republic Day ceremony on January 26, 2016, according to a French daily Le Monde.
The news was first tweeted by a South Asia correspondent of the newspaper and was later confirmed by sources in the Indian government. France President Francois Hollande is going to be India's chief guest at the 67th Republic Day ceremony on January 26, 2016, according to a French daily Le Monde.
The news was first tweeted by a South Asia correspondent of the newspaper and was later confirmed by sources in the Indian government.: France President Francois Hollande is going to be India's chief guest at the 67th Republic Day ceremony on January 26, 2016, according to a French daily Le Monde.
The news was first tweeted by a South Asia correspondent of the newspaper and was later confirmed by sources in the Indian government.
The French president François Hollande will be the chief guest at the 2016 Republic Day of India
— julien bouissou (@jubouissou) November 21, 2015Earlier in October, a report in Telegraph said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited Hollande to be the chief guest for next year's ceremony.
Sources say a formal invitation has been sent to France but a confirmation is still awaited.
US President Barack Obama was the chief guest this year for the Republic Day parade at Rajpath in the national capital.
The development comes at a time when France is gripped in a state of emergency and Hollande has vowed attacks on the Islamic State that claimed responsibility for the Paris killings.
The French President has pulled out of the G20 summit, keeping in view the situation in his country and asked world powers to join France in its fight against the Islamic State.