On December 13,1946 Jawaharlal Nehru enunciated the defining vision of what the soon-to-be sovereign country should look like: there was no place for a free India except as a republic. In the next three years, the Indian Constitution was framed, believed to be world’s longest that details out the political, legal and social structures of India. India became a sovereign democratic republic when the Constitution came into effect on 26 January 1950.
This year, President Droupadi Murmu unfurled the Tricolour at Kartavya Path, marking the commencement of the 77th Republic Day celebrations.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to fallen soldiers by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial near India Gate. He was joined by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff Anil Chauhan, Chief of Army Staff Upendra Dwivedi, and others. The ceremony was attended by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and António Luís Santos da Costa, President of the European Council, who are the chief guests for this year’s celebrations.
This year, 30 tableaux – 17 of the States/ Union Territories and nine from various Ministries/Departments/Services are marching down the Rajpath with a general theme ‘Swatantrata ka Mantra: Vande Mataram’ and ‘Samriddhi ka Mantra: Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
Here, we take a look at 5 countries that celebrate their Republic Day:
