UAE’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed to be chief guest at 2017 Republic Day celebrations; Arab soldiers to march in parade

New Delhi: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will be the Chief Guest at the 2017 Republic Day parade.

In a first, Arab soldiers will be marching in New Delhi during the parade.

A report in The Times of India said the visiting dignitary will bring a marching band from the UAE's defence forces at the parade on Republic Day.

It would be the second time when any foreign contingent will be participating in the parade on January 26.

Last year, the French marching band had joined the parade in honour of Francois Hollande, who was the chief guest.

India has, however, nixed the UAE's proposal to send a military paratrooper team for live display during Republic Day Parade, citing security concerns.

"After France sent a contingent of French Army soldiers last year, we have decided to make it a practice. So, we invited a contingent from the UAE, but they wanted to send military paratroopers.

"The Ministry of Defence was not ready for this due to security concerns as the Rajpath literally turns into a high-security zone with the President, the Prime Minister and many VVIPs attending the event. The weather may also not be conducive during that period," said a government official.

The visit of Al Nahyan, who is also the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE armed forces, is expected to give a boost to bilateral ties in the key areas of trade and security.

During Modi's visit in August last year, the two countries had condemned efforts, including by states, to use religion to justify, support and sponsor terrorism against other countries, or to use terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

They had also decided to strengthen their cooperation in the area of counter-terrorism.

Trade is another important component of the bilateral ties as UAE is India's third largest trading partner after China and the United States. Bilateral trade between UAE and India is around USD 60 billion.

There are also more than 2.6 million Indians live in the UAE and their annual remittance is estimated to be around USD 14 billion.