Julien Bouissou, the South Asia correspondent of French daily La Monde has tweeted that French President Francois Hollande will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade of January 26, 2016. Mr. Hollande’s visit to New Delhi for the mega pageant of January 26 will be symbolic and will send a message of a worldwide solidarity among the democratic countries against terrorism.

The announcement regarding the presence of Mr. Hollande during the Republic Day parade as the chief guest might have been finalised during the talks, which French foreign minister Laurent Fabius had in Delhi on November 20. Mr Fabius, one of the longest serving French diplomats, was in Delhi to discuss the climate conference, his discussions with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj and Prime Minister Modi in Delhi expectedly, were overshadowed by the war on terror that France has declared following the terror strikes in Paris.

"I want to say that France is grateful for the tremendous support it has received from the international community including Indian friends. The attackers will not go unpunished and our response is and will be strong," Fabius said
The Telegraph had reported earlier that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had extended an invitation to Hollande to be the chief guest at the 2016 Republic Day parade. The report also said that the visit may help to work the Rafale deal, which has been stuck for a while now.

By Premji