Republic Day 2021: World leaders extend greetings and pray for 'India’s lasting peace'

As the nation celebrates 72nd Republic Day on Tuesday, leaders from across the globe extended their wishes to India on the auspicious occasion. While taking to Twitter, leaders including Scott Morrison, Boris Johnson and Benjamin Netanyahu shared praising messages and extended greetings to India. Israel PM Netanyahu congratulated PM Narendra Modi and the people of India, Bhutan’s Lotay Tshering, on the other hand, conveyed prayers of people of Bhutan for India’s lasting peace and prosperity. 

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Australian PM Scott Morrison extended his wishes to India and his Indian counterpart PM Modi. Reiterating PM Modi's stance on Australia and India being solid partners, Scott Morrison remarked that the two countries functioned on similar ideals of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. The Australian PM reminisced a 'pivotal moment' in his friendship with PM Modi in 2019 when the announcement of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and that it defined the trust that both countries held in each other. 

President of Republic of Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih also tweeted and called India’s constitution “remarkable”. He said that the Indian constitution continues to guide the “world’s largest democracy”. 

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UK PM Boris Johnson, who was set to be the chief guest at India’s annual Republic Day parade, also extended greeting sand said that UK and India are working side by side to free humanity from the coronavirus pandemic. In a video message, he even celebrated the birth of an “extraordinary constitution” that established India “as the biggest sovereign democracy in the world”. Johnson also reiterated his plan to visit the nation in the coming months. 

Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli expressed his best wishes for continued peace, progress and prosperity of the people of India, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal on Tuesday. Nepal PM further admired India's 'spectacular progress in various fields of science, technology, medicine & economic development', it added. PM Oli also expressed gratitude to the Government of India for providing one million COVISHIELD vaccines to Nepal as 'a grant gesture of good neighbourly relations.' 

READ: Delhi CM Greets People On Republic Day; Salutes Corona Warriors, Soldiers, Farmers

Republic Day parade 

Meanwhile, as per tradition, the national flag was unfurled in the presence of President Ram Nath Kovind, PM Modi, and other dignitaries, followed by the national anthem with a booming 21-gun salute. During the Republic Day parade, the might of the Indian Airforce was in full display. India showed its military might with Rafale fighter jets taking part in the flypast for the first time and the armed forces showcasing T-90 tanks, the Samvijay electronic warfare system, and Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jets.

The IAF tableau featured models of some of their best aircraft- Light Combat Aircraft and Light Combat Helicopters. Scaled-down models of the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and the Rohini radar were rolled down at Rajpath, the ceremonial road connecting the Rashtrapati Bhavan to the iconic war memorial India Gate. DRDO's mission to make India self-reliant (Aatmanirbhar) in defence technology to meet the future with all its might and also the tableau showed DRDO's achievements. 

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