Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

With Shinzo Abe's demise, India has lost a trusted friend who transformed the Indo-Japanese strategic relationship. In his seminal 2007 speech, he mentioned Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and Netaji Bose to highlight the bond between the two nations.

Every year since 1950, India has been hosting a head of state or government of another country as the state guest of honour for Republic Day celebrations. Here are some famous personalities who visited India over the years, and added value to the parade.