India on Friday celebrated its 69th Republic Day with 10 leaders of Asean countries taking a close look at the country’s military might and cultural diversity and getting a peep into achievements at the annual grand parade here.
It was for the first time that 10 guests of honour — from all 10 Asean countries — were invited for the annual official celebrations, signifying India’s growing strategic interests in its eastern neighbourhood that surrounds the maritime underbelly of Asia – the Indo-Pacific.
Despite a thick fog blanketing the city, hundreds turned up on both sides of Rajpath in the heart of Delhi to watch a grand march past that wound its way over eight kilometres from Raisina Hill, with the imposing Rashtrapati Bhavan in the backdrop, to the 17th century Red Fort.