The President and First Lady Kim Yoon-ok on Tuesday (Jan. 26), a day before their departure from India, attended the Republic Day event on Rajpath, a royal road, stretching in front of the Presidential Palace.

The presidential couple was invited as Chief Guest to the ceremony, which coincided with the 60th anniversary of the Republic of India.

The Republic of India has been inviting foreign heads of state to the event since 1975, and the invitation is thought of as a signal for the republic to strengthen strategic ties with the invitee''s country.

Recently, India has invited the heads of Kazakhstan (2009), France (2008) and Russia (2007) to the national event.

The event on Tuesday proceeded for about two hours, including the Order of Military Merit awarding ceremony, a military parade and a cultural parade.

The parade of soldiers from India''s army, navy and air force, including elephant- and camel-mounted contingents, marched down the street in front of the guests of honor.

A variety of performances including folk dances, musical performances and acrobatics on motorbikes took place during the cultural parade.

In the evening, the presidential couple participated in a reception hosted by India''s President Pratibha Patil. India''s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ruling party leader Sonia Gandhi were also present at the reception.

Following the reception, The President held a gathering with 200 representatives of Korean people living in India, and encouraged them to take pride in their mother country and do their best to develop bilateral ties between Korea and India. Currently, about 380 Korean companies and 8,000 Koreans reside in the cities of Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore.