All ASEAN Heads Of State May Attend India’s 69th Republic Day Parade As Chief Guests

Officials at the Ministry of External Affairs have pulled up their socks to host the leaders of Southeast Asian countries at India’s next Republic Day parade.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly intends to have all 10 heads of state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as chief guests when India enters her sixty-ninth year of being a sovereign, democratic republic.

The Ministry has started sending out invitations to the heads of Governments of Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. If the Prime Minister’s wish is realised, it will be the largest such turnout at a Republic Day parade.