The President of Suriname is not the chief guest for this year's Republic Day

A post claiming that Suriname’s President Chadrikapersad Santokhi will be the chief guest for this year’s Republic day is being shared across social media platforms. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.

The archived version of this post can be found here

Claim: Suriname’s President Chadrikapersad Santokhi will be the chief guest for this year’s (2021) Republic day.
Fact: This year, India will not have a chief guest for Republic Day. In view of the changed COVID-19 situation in the UK, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had canceled his India visit and expressed his regret for not being able to attend this year’s Republic day. On the other hand, Chandrikapersad Santokhi, President of the Republic of Suriname had delivered a keynote address as a chief guest at the 16^th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) convention. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.

According to a news article by ANI, Minister of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivatsava said in a virtual press briefing that ‘Due to the global Covid-19 situation, it has been decided that this year, there will not be a foreign head of state or head of government as the chief guest for our Republic Day event.’

Earlier British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to be this year’s Republic day chief guest but had to cancel the trip later in view of the changed COVID-19 situation in the UK.

Mr. Chandrikapersad Santokhi, President of the Republic of Suriname had delivered a keynote address as a chief guest on 16^th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) convention which was held in virtual format. There is every possibility that Chandrikapersad Santokhi being the chief guest of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was misconstrued as chief guest for Republic Day.

However, this is not the first time that India will not have a chief guest for the Republic Day parade. Also in view of COVID-19, this year will witness a restricted Republic Day event. In the wake of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s late cancellation of his India visit, posts like these are being shared across social media platforms with misleading claims.

To sum it up, President of Suriname is not the chief guest for this year’s Republic Day.