Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto flew to India on Thursday to become the chief guest of New Delhi’s 76th Republic Day.

Prabowo is set to officially become the fourth Indonesian president to be a guest of honor in an event commemorating India’s transition from a British dominion to a free republic on Sunday. Before the big day, Prabowo will meet Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Every year, India invites a world leader to attend the Republic Day festivities that fall on Jan. 26. According to media reports, the guest of honor gets picked based on India’s ties with the respective country at the time. Indonesia’s founding father Soekarno was the first-ever chief guest for India’s Republic Day in 1950. Then President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) became the second Indonesian leader to receive the invite in 2011. India then invited SBY’s successor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his ASEAN counterparts to be the guest of honor at the Republic Day parade in 2018.

“India is among the countries that have given the most support for our struggle for independence. India gained independence in 1947, and they really supported our struggle for independence until 1949. India at the time gave us medicine and financial aid,” Prabowo said in Jakarta, shortly before departing.

Indonesia declared independence in 1945 but the Netherlands only legally transferred sovereignty to Indonesia in 1949. Prabowo added: “To us, India is a friend and a very important partner.” 

The retired general added that as many as 352 Indonesian soldiers and military academy cadets would join the Republic Day parade. “I believe our military will be at the front row as the guest of honors,” Prabowo said.

The visit will see the exchange of memorandum of understanding (MoUs) on health and technology, to name a few. Prabowo is also set to meet Indian businesspeople who wish to invest in India. 

 Prabowo has repeatedly said he wanted to make Indonesia befriend all countries. Since becoming president, Indonesia -- under Prabowo -- has grown closer with India, particularly after Jakarta joined the BRICS grouping of emerging economies. India is a founding member of BRICS which is increasingly viewed as a counterweight to Western influence. 

Prabowo will wrap up his foreign trip with another state visit to close neighbor Malaysia. He will meet Malaysian King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar and prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.