EU Leaders António Costa, Ursula von der Leyen to be Republic Day Chief Guests
The European Council president, António Luís Santos da Costa, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will be the chief guests of India’s Republic Day celebrations on January 26.
The Ministry of External Affairs has announced that Costa and von der Leyen will also co-chair the 16th India-EU Summit on January 27.
An India-EU Business Forum is also expected to be organised on the sidelines of the summit.
During their visit, Costa and von der Leyen are scheduled to call on President Droupadi Murmu and hold both restricted and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at whose invitation they are visiting the country.
The EU’s press release notes that this will be the first time that the leaders of the European Union will be attendeding Republic Day Parade celebrations as guests of honour, “signalling the strengthening of the bilateral relationship between the EU and India.”
The MEA noted in its announcement that India and the European Union are strategic partners since 2004. It said that the 15th India-EU Summit was held virtually five years ago, on July 15, 2020. “Bilateral ties have expanded and deepened across a wide range of areas, particularly following the historic visit of EU College of Commissioners to India in February 2025,” it added.
The MEA said that the participation of EU leaders as chief guests at the 77th Republic Day and the 16th India-EU Summit will further deepen India-EU Strategic Partnership and advance collaboration in priority areas of mutual interest.
The EU release said the summit is aimed “at building on the EU-India strategic partnership and further strengthening collaboration across key policy areas. Trade, security and defence, the clean transition and people to people cooperation will top the agenda of the discussions.”