South Africa President, Cyril Ramaphosa, accepted to be the chief guest for India’s Republic Day celebrations in 2019, reported news agency ANI. President Cyril Ramaphosa will be accompanied by a high level delegation and a number of accords are expected to be signed during his visit for which more details are awaited.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited US President Donald Trump to attend the Republic Day parade. However, Trump declined the invitation citing “scheduling constraints”. “President Trump was honored by Prime Minister Modi’s invitation for him to be Chief Guest of India’s Republic Day on January 26, 2019, but is unable to participate due to scheduling constraints,” a White House spokesperson had earlier said in a statement.