Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto will head out on his first-ever official state visit to India next week as the chief guest of the Delhi Republic Day Parade.

India celebrates Republic Day on Jan. 26 every year with ceremonious parades to commemorate the country’s transition from a British dominion to a free republic. Every year, India will always extend an invitation to a world leader of their pick as the parade’s chief guest.  

The Foreign Affairs Ministry announced Thursday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had picked Prabowo as their chief guest for the 76th Republic Day celebrations this year. 

This would mark the fourth Republic Day invitation that Indonesia had ever gotten. 

Indonesia’s founding father Sukarno was the chief guest of India’s first Republic Day celebrations in 1950. Decades later, India invited Former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) in 2011 to attend the parade. Prabowo’s predecessor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his fellow ASEAN leaders also got the guest of honor invite in 2018.

“Prabowo’s first-ever state visit to India will also mark the 75 years of Indonesia-India’s bilateral ties. The visit also seeks to bolster the strategic comprehensive strategic partnership that the two countries established in 2018,” the Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

Prabowo’s India trip will take place on Jan. 24-26. 

His first order of business will be meeting Indian President Droupadi Murmu. He will hold talks with Modi on Jan. 25. The retired army general is also scheduled to pay respect to Raj Ghat, a memorial complex dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, who had led the Indian independence movement from British rule.

“The Prabowo-Modi meeting will witness the exchange of bilateral memoranda of understanding [MoUs] in various sectors, including health, culture,  maritime security and safety, and traditional medicines,” the ministry said.

It is also expected that the visit will strengthen bilateral economic ties. 

Government data shows Indonesia-India trade totaled $24.1 billion in January-November 2024, down from $24.7 billion recorded in the same 11-month period the previous year. Despite the weakening trade volume, Indonesia’s trade surplus with India grew from about $12.2 billion to nearly $13.7 billion over the same period.

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