Republic Day 2025: Indonesian contigent to lead parade for first time, says MEA

A marching contingent and band from Indonesia will lead Indiarsquos Republic Day 2025 parade for the first time the Ministry of External Affairs MEA stated on SaturdayAccording to news agency ANI while speaking at a special briefing on the state visit of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto Jaideep Mazumdar Secretary East of MEA emphasised Jakartas pivotal role as a crucial partner in Indiarsquos Act East Policy and IndoPacific vision He described the visit as both timely and important noting the extensive discussions between the two nations on various mattersMazumdar stated Tomorrow the President of Indonesia will witness the Republic Day 2025 parade as a chief guest One remarkable feature of this Republic Day parade is that a marching contingent and a band from Indonesia will be at the lead of our parade This is not only the first time that we are having a contingent from Indonesia marching on Republic Day but for Indonesia it is the first time ever that a military band and a military contingent have participated in a parade abroad anywhereHe further elaborated This is also of particular importance because the President is also a soldier by profession and he himself has taken great interest in the rehearsals of the army contingent in Jakarta before they came He is therefore extremely happy that this honour has been given to the Indonesian Army Indonesia as I have said is our comprehensive strategic partner and a very important pillar of our Act East policy and our vision for the IndoPacific The visit is a very timely one very important and the substantive discussions held in a wide range of areas will certainly chart the way forward in bilateral relations for the next few yearsAt the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi President Subianto is on a state visit to India ANI reported The visit marks his first trip to India since assuming office in October 2024 He is also the Chief Guest for Indiarsquos 76th Republic Day celebrationsMazumdar noted that President Subianto is accompanied by a highpowered delegation including six cabinet ministers senior officials and a large business delegation He also reflected on the prior interactions between Prime Minister Modi and President SubiantoPM Modi Indonesian President hold meetingMazumdar said The President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto is accompanied by a highpowered delegation of six cabinet ministers senior officials and a very large business delegation This is the Presidents maiden state visit to India although he had visited earlier as Defence Minister in 2020 He met our Prime Minister in Brazil on the margins of the G20 in November this year and they have also spoken on the phone on a couple of occasionsHe added The President had congratulated Prime Minister Modi on his election victory The President himself was elected in October and took office in the same month We are very fortunate that very early on in his tenure he is visiting India The Prime Minister also remarked that it is a very good signmdashat the start of the Prime Ministers third term and the beginning of the Presidents term we are having this visit which will give both leaders the chance to work on strengthening the relationshipEarlier on Saturday Prime Minister Modi met President Subianto at Hyderabad House in Delhi ANI reported The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership focusing on defence security maritime domain economic ties and peopletopeople connectionsIn a post shared on X Randhir Jaiswal stated IndiaIndonesia Together for our vision of the IndoPacific PM narendramodi and President prabowo of Indonesia held wideranging talks at Hyderabad House today Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with a focus on defence and security maritime domain economic and peopletopeople ties They also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interestFollowing his meeting with PM Modi President Subianto highlighted the historic ties and strategic partnership between Indonesia and India He expressed his great honour at being invited as the chief guest for Indias Republic Day 2025 paradeIn his statement alongside PM Modi President Subianto remarked The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia is on land donated by the Indian government before we were recognised by many other countries in the world We will prioritise this relationship in the interest of the longterm strategic partnership we have agreed upon I feel very honoured to be the Chief Guest at tomorrows Republic Day parade The first Chief Guest at Indias first Republic Day parade was President Sukarno so this is a great honour for mePresident Subianto arrived in New Delhi on Friday night for his first state visit to India He was welcomed by Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita at the airportWith ANI inputs