President of Indonesia to be chief guest on Republic Day but Pakistan angle is getting stuck in trouble, know the whole matter

New Delhi : This time India has invited Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto as the chief guest on Republic Day. Its official announcement can be made any time. But there is a problem. The problem is that Subianto has a plan to visit Pakistan right after the Republic Day celebrations but India does not want this. Therefore, the Indonesian President is being persuaded not to club his/her visit with Pakistan. Separate your Pakistan visit from your India visit. India and Indonesia have strong relations and Indonesia is India’s largest trading partner in the ASEAN region. This is the third time that India has invited an Indonesian President for Republic Day. It happened for the first time in 1950.

By the way, usually who will be the chief guest on Republic Day is announced several months in advance. The news of invitation to Subianto had also come to light in November last year but the official announcement is getting delayed. Amidst this delay, reports emerged in Pakistani media that the Indonesian President may reach Islamabad on January 26 for a three-day visit. However, amid ongoing efforts to convince Subianto, sources say that Subianto will be the chief guest on Republic Day.

India has recently encouraged leaders of other countries not to include Pakistan in their agenda during their visits to India and to keep their relations with the two countries separate. India is believed to have taken up the issue diplomatically with Indonesia, and is trying to stop Subianto from going straight to Islamabad after the Republic Day celebrations. India believes that if the President flies to Islamabad just hours after the Indian Army parade, it will not augur well for India, especially given the strained relations with Pakistan over several issues such as cross-border terrorism.

Subianto had met Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Egypt during a multilateral event in December and promised to increase economic cooperation between the two countries. India and Indonesia have traditionally had strong relations, with a common focus on political sovereignty, economic self-reliance and independent foreign policy. Indonesia has emerged as India’s largest trading partner in the ASEAN region.

During the visit of then Indonesian President Joko Widodo to India in 2016, the two countries had agreed to establish a security dialogue to develop a comprehensive action plan on security cooperation. Widodo also visited India in 2018 as one of the chief guests for the Republic Day Parade along with the leaders of 9 other ASEAN member states. he/she also went to Pakistan immediately after his/her visit to India.