French President Francois Hollande to be 2016 Republic Day chief guest: Reports

French President Francois Hollande will be the chief guest at India's Republic Day celebrations in 2016, several media reports said on Saturday. 

The development was tweeted by a South Asia Correspondent with Le Monde, who later said that the news was confirmed by French authorities. 

The French president François Hollande will be the chief guest at the 2016 Republic Day of India

— julien bouissou (@jubouissou) November 21, 2015

This year, the Republic Day Parade saw US President Barack Obama as the chief guest, who was accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama.

The news about Hollande's visit comes shortly after the deadly attack in Paris last week that left nearly 130 people dead and several others injured. While Paris was declared to be in a state of emergency, President Hollande cancelled an impending trip to Turkey for the G20 summit. 

More details about his visit are not known yet. 

The Telegraph had reported in October that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had extended an invitation to Hollande to be the chief guest at the next Republic Day parade. The report said that the visit may help work the Rafale deal which has been stuck for a while now.