India and France are expected to further strengthen their defence and security partnership when President Emmanuel Macron arrives here as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26.

A contingent from the French Army is also set to participate in this year’s Republic Day.

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Macron’s visit for the Republic Day comes amid an unprecedented upswing in bilateral ties, ranging from defence and security to clean energy, trade and investment and new technologies.

Sources said the French leader will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising several ministers, CEOs, personalities from the cultural and scientific fields.

The French President will first arrive in Jaipur on January 25 where a roadshow with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is planned. Bilateral meeting is likely between the two leaders when major announcements are expected in defence and strategic sectors.

India and France also expressed commitment to cooperate in the co-development and co-production of advanced defence technologies, including for the benefit of third countries.

PM Modi earlier this year was Guest of Honour at the Bastille Day parade in Paris on July 14.

This will be the sixth time when a French leader will be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade, reflecting the growing friendship between the two countries.

Earlier, the US president was extended an invite for the Republic Day celebrations but Washington recently conveyed to New Delhi the inability of the American leader to come without specifying any reason. This led to media speculation that it could be a fallout of the recent allegation made by the US about the involvement of Indian nationals in a plot to assassinate ‘Khalistan’ leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. As a consequence of the US President’s inability to travel to New Delhi, the planned Quad summit in the Indian capital has also been postponed.

Prior to Mr Macron, former French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac was the chief guest at the Republic Day in 1976 and 1998, and former Presidents Valery Giscard d’Estaing, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Francois Hollande in the years 1980, 2008 and 2016 respectively.