2020 Republic Day Chief Guest : All You Need To Know About Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro
President of Brazil Jair Messias Bolsonaro will be paying a state visit to India from January 24-27 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He will be the chief guest at Indias 71st Republic Day Parade on January 26. This visit is expected to further enhance and strengthen the multi-faceted ties between India-Brazil.
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro will be the chief guest at India¡¯s 71st Republic Day Parade on January 26.
According to reports, the invitation to Bolsonaro is part of the Indian government¡¯s outreach to Latin and South America, including the exchange of high-level visits, to boost trade and investments.
Reuters
"President of Brazil Jair Messias Bolsonaro will be paying a state visit to India from January 24-27 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He will be the chief guest at India's 71st Republic Day Parade on January 26," the External Affairs Ministry said.
President Bolsonaro, a former army captain, won a landslide victory in Brazil's presidential election in October 2018, and took the reins of the country in January last year. "This visit is expected to further enhance and strengthen the multi-faceted ties between India-Brazil," the ministry said.
According to reports, on his four-day visit, Bolsonaro will be accompanied by seven ministers, Chairman of Brazil-India Friendship Group in the Brazilian Parliament, senior officials and a large business delegation.
Who is Jair Bolsonaro?
According to a Reuters report, Bolsonaro came to power with a 46% vote, and his supporters believe that he will rescue Brazil's dwindling economy .
However, the Human Rights Watch report paints a disturbing picture of this world leader saying, 'Bolsonaro, a pro-torture, openly bigoted member of Congress, won a run-off election on October 28, 2018 and he took office in January 2019'.
Ever since Bolsonaro took up office, his tenure has dotted with multiple protests against him.
He has been widely criticized across the world for his extreme right-wing views and has been called a ¡±bigot, homophobic, authoritarian, xenophobic¡±. He has also been dubbed the ¡°Brazilian Donald Trump¡± and has vowed to make Brazil ¡°great¡± again.
In 2014, he was criticized after he suggested that a female colleague was too ugly to be raped. The leader has defended dictatorship, suggested that his opponents ¡±should be shot¡±, and called refugees from Haiti, Africa, and the Middle East as the ¡±scum of humanity.¡±
Bolsonaro has also been public about his outright offensive views regarding the LGBTQ community. Back in 2018 Bolsonaro was quoted in a magazine, "Brazil can't be a country of the gay world, of gay tourism. We have families."
Why is Bolsonaro the chief guest?
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In 2018, India¡¯s investments in Brazil stood around $6 billion, especially in IT, pharmaceutical, and energy sector among others. They have also shared a similar historical past in terms of repression and eventually fighting for independence. According to News 18, the biggest point of connection between the countries is the shared respect for Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi is still considered an important (and controversial) figure in Brazil's history of racism and is still revered by the people.
According to the Indian Express, statues of Mahatma Gandhi have been installed in the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Londrina.
A commemorative postal stamp of Gandhi was released by the Brazilian Postal Department on Gandhi Jayanti in 2018.
All inputs from PTI
