VISIT’ PAKISTAN AFTER REPUBLIC DAY PARADE
NEW DELHI: India has got its way as Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has decided not to travel to Pakistan after attending the Republic Day parade in India on 26 January 2025 as the chief guest.
“The Indonesian President [Prabowo Subianto] will not travel to Pakistan after he visits New Delhi,” people familiar with the matter informed on Friday. One person in the loop said there would be no Pakistan visit during Prabowo’s India visit for Republic Day.
India has been pushing for the de-hyphenation of India and Pakistan, encouraging leaders not to combine a visit to New Delhi with Islamabad. Prabowo’s prior plan to visit Islamabad directly from New Delhi on the same day that he will likely be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade is something India has not been keen on.
As reported , an invitation was extended to the newly inaugurated Indonesian President to be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebration. India is likely to confirm Prabowo’s visit soon.
However, earlier this month, reports emerged in Pakistan of an invitation extended to Prabowo for a three-day visit to the country at the end of January, right after Republic Day.
Shehbaz Sharif, the Pakistani Prime Minister, has constituted a special committee to look into enhancing bilateral ties between Indonesia and Pakistan. The committee held a meeting Thursday, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), the state-run news agency.
The meeting, chaired by Ahsan Iqbal, the minister for planning, development and special initiatives, had senior officials from various ministries, including planning, commerce, finance and foreign affairs, and Islamabad’s envoy to Indonesia, who was present via video link, discussing various proposals to strengthen cooperation and trade with Indonesia, according to APP.
Foreign leaders of countries with which India has strong ties get invitations to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade. Indonesia is considered a strong maritime neighbour. The Indian government has, in recent years, paid special attention to its ties with the South East Asian country.
In 2018, then President of Indonesia Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, along with nine other leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade.
Jokowi travelled to Islamabad—right after for a two-day state visit from 26 January 2018 to 27 January 2018.