“Guess who will be invited to India’s Republic Day celebrations?” said Verum.
India, a country in Asia, celebrates its Republic Day every year on 26th January. The country adopted its Constitution on this day in 1950. A constitution is a document that outlines how a country should be governed.
As this day is important, India holds celebrations at Rajpath in the national capital, New Delhi. The celebrations include a Republic Day Parade and award distribution ceremonies. World leaders are invited to participate in these celebrations as Chief Guests.
“Who?” said Orak.
“Guess, guess,” Verum egged on, “It’s someone you might have heard of.”
“Oh! Is it the MysticLord?” screamed an excited Scorch.
“Calm down Scorch,” said Orak, “Humans don’t even know that the MysticLord exists. How will they invite him for a function like this?”
“That is a valid point,” said Scorch with a sheepish smile.
“Verum, enough with the suspense already!” said Orak.
“All five Central Asian countries!” said Verum excitedly.
Felix and Scorch’s faces wore blank expressions. They said, “And who is that?”
“Well, the five countries are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. In recent years, India is trying to build relations with them,” said Verum, “In 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited all five countries. It was the first time an Indian Prime Minister visited these countries since they came into existence.”
“Are the guests invited to the Republic Day celebrations important?” said Felix.
“Very much so,” replied Verum, “The choice of guests shows which country or region is close to the host country. Over the years, many distinguished world leaders have attended these celebrations.
In 2015, United States President Barack Obama was invited as a Chief Guest, and in 2016, French President Francois Hollande was invited. This was followed by Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2017. All ten countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were invited in 2018. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazilian President Jair Bolsanaro were invited in 2019 and 2020 respectively.”
“Oh, Republic Day 2022 seems to be an exciting affair,” said Scorch.