For second year in a row, no chief guest on Republic Day due to Covid-19 crisis

New Delhi: For the second year in a row, Republic Day will have no foreign chief guest due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis across the world, especially with the increase in the number of cases of the Omicron variant.

Five Central Asian leaders were invited as the chief guest for the Republic Day parade on January 26, though no public announcements were made by either side.

India on Tuesday (January 18) continued to report over two lakh daily new coronavirus cases. According to the health ministry, there were 2,38,018 new infections in the last 24 hours and the country has so far reported 8,891 Omicron cases.

Earlier in 2021, United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson was invited as the chief guest but he could not take part amid the Covid-19 crisis in his country.

In the past, years 1952, 1953 and 1966 saw no chief guest on the Republic Day. 1966, had, notably, seen the demise of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent and new PM Indira Gandhi was sworn in on January 24, 1966, just two days before Republic day. 

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As per the diplomatic calendar, January was expected to be a heavy month with the visit of PM Narendra Modi to UAE, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Vietnam and mega vibrant Gujarat investors meet. However, all such visits were postponed or cancelled due to the sudden spike in Covid-19 cases.

Focus now is on virtual meetings and telephonic converations.

Next week is likely to see a virtual summit involving PM Modi and all the five Central Asian leaders to celebrate the 30 years of establishment of ties. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has also already held telephonic talks with over 15 of his counterparts since the new year dawned.

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