Republic Day 2026 Surprise? India Weighs Inviting Both Top EU Leaders as Chief Guests | Exclusive

There may not be one Chief Guest for the Republic Day function on January 26, 2026. There may be two. Discussions between the European Union (EU) and India about having the two European leaders-- European Council

President Antonio Costa and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen-- as chief guests for R-Day next year are going on. Highly placed sources said that while it hasn't been finalised as yet, the "nitty gritties" are being worked out and while there are two leaders involved, it is just one organisation involved: the EU. Having the EU leaders as chief guests would be very appropriate as India and the Europeans are currently working on a free trade agreement (FTA) and both sides believe it can be worked out, despite the "sticking points." In fact, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar has publicly said that both sides should work quickly towards finalising the agreement. The India-EU summit is also slated for January. As part of the negotiations, the EU's negotiating team headed by trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic will be in India in the second week of December. Agriculture, it is understood, is one of the areas that need more discussion, as India believes that if cheap farm-related products hit Indian markets, it could hurt the Indian argo-economy-- the rural areas being where two-thirds of India live. The "dairy products" issue will also require more discussion as will the automobile sector and the carbon-tax problem. This relates to the EU's decision to enforce the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) from next year by imposing tariffs on products being imported from countries that have less stringent climate rules. This, India believes, could hurt Indian exports to the EU and not make it a level-playing field.Costa and von der Leyen head the European Council and Commission respectively and have important and discrete roles. In fact, von der Leyen has been to India earlier. And if the FTA is worked out by them-- R-Day is still ten weeks away, it will be a spectacular moment. Of course, the final decision is still some distance away, but in the past, there have been ten chief guests as well. This was in 2018 when leaders of all ten ASEAN countries were chief guests for the R-Day function.