REPUBLIC DAY

Although India obtained its independence on August 15, 1947, it did not yet have a permanent constitution; instead, its laws were based on the modified colonial Government of India Act 1935, and the country was a Dominion, with George VI as head of state and Earl Mountbatten as Governor General. On August 29, 1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed to draft a permanent constitution, with Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar as chairman.

CHIEF GUEST

India hosts another head of state as the chief guest on this day. The strategic importance of any nation as associated by India can be easily seen in this list.

Year	Guest Name	Country
1976	Prime Minister Jacques Chirac	France
1978	President Dr.Patrick Hillery	Ireland
1980	President Valery Giscard d'Estaing	France
1985	President Raul Alfonsin	Argentina
1986	Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou	Greece
1987	President Alan Garcia	Peru
1988	President Junius Jayewardene	Sri Lanka
1992	President Mário Soares	Portugal
1993	Prime Minister John Major	United Kingdom
1995	President Nelson Mandela[1]	South Africa
1996	President Dr. Fernando Henrique Cardoso	Brazil
1997	Prime Minister Basdeo Panday	Trinidad and Tobago
1998	President Jacques Chirac	France
1999	King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev	Nepal
2000	President Olusegun Obasanjo	Nigeria
2001	President Abdelaziz Bouteflika	Algeria
2002	President Cassam Uteem	Mauritius
2003	President Mohammed Khatami	Iran
2004	King Jigme Singye Wangchuk	Bhutan
2006	King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud	Saudi Arabia
2007	President Vladimir Putin	Russia
2008	President Nicolas Sarkozy	France
2009	President Nursultan Nazarbayev	Kazakhstan
2010	President Lee Myung bak	Republic of Korea