In January 1955, Governor-General of Pakistan Sir Malik Ghulam Mohammad attended the Republic Day celebrations as the chief guest.
In India, the tradition of inviting foreign guests on the occasion of Republic Day started from the very first event. Indonesian President Sukarno was the chief guest at India’s first Republic Day parade on January 26, 1950. This trend continues even today. This year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa have become the chief guests. Interestingly, there were two such occasions in the history of Republic Day when two personalities from Pakistan were made the chief guests of India’s Republic Day.
Two senior Pakistani political leaders were chief guests at India’s Republic Day parade, not once but twice, in 1955 and again a decade later, in 1965.
Who was the Pakistani leader who became the chief guest on Republic Day?
After partition, the wounds of the Kashmir war of 1947-48 were fresh. There was a dispute on the boundaries. Despite this, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1955 and Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1965 chose the option of talks on India’s most prominent formal forum. Made the Chief Guest with the hope that this will pave the way for reconciliation and conflict resolution with the neighboring country.
The first occasion came in January 1955, when the Governor-General of Pakistan, Sir Malik Ghulam Mohammad attended the Republic Day celebrations. That year the grand military parade shifted to Rajpath, which was later permanently renamed Rajpath. Now it is known as Dutvapath.
The picture is of 1955 when on the occasion of Republic Day, Governor-General of Pakistan Sir Malik Ghulam Mohammad arrived and met Pandit Jawahar Nehru. Photo: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Sir Malik was an important figure in the early political history of Pakistan. He served as the third Governor General of the country from 1951 to 1955. He was knighted by the British in 1946 and after independence, he played an influential role, especially in the economic and administrative affairs of Pakistan.
His tenure as Governor-General is mainly remembered for dismissing the government of Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin in 1953 and subsequently dissolving the Constituent Assembly. Pakistan’s acceptance of Pandit Nehru’s invitation reflected its willingness to negotiate beyond the bitterness and hostility generated by Partition and the subsequent conflict in Kashmir.
Sir Malik served as the third Governor General of Pakistan from 1951 to 1955.
After 10 years, history took a turn again
A decade later, history repeated itself when Pakistan’s Food and Agriculture Minister Rana Abdul Hamid was the chief guest at the Republic Day Parade in January 1965, when Lal Bahadur Shastri was the Prime Minister of India. A Punjabi feudal landlord, Hamid belonged to the influential Rana dynasty, which had ties to the Hindu Rajputs of Umarkot (formerly Amarkot) in Sindh, a symbol of royal lineage, and also had ethnic and tribal ties to western Rajasthan. Hamid’s visit was part of a broader effort to stabilize relations through dialogue and diplomatic engagement.
war started after the journey
Within two months of Hamid’s appearance on the Rajpath salutation stage, Pakistan launched Operation Desert Hawk, a military incursion into the Rann of Kutch in April, leading to further clashes over the next 6–8 weeks. In May 1965, the conflict escalated into a major confrontation with the Indian Army, after which a British-brokered ceasefire was agreed upon and hostilities ended in June 1965. Soon after, Pakistan launched Operation Gibraltar, a covert military plan to infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir in August 1965.
The objective of this plan was to send soldiers in plain clothes to instigate Muslim rebellion in India. The plan failed, as the locals surrendered the infiltrators to the Indian Army, but within days, it led to the three-week long India-Pakistan War in September 1965.
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