New Delhi, Jan. 16 -- European Union leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa will be chief guests at Republic Day celebrations on January 26, with India and the EU racing to finalise a free trade agreement in time for announcement at the bilateral summit the next day, as negotiations have reached what officials describe as a "historic juncture". Commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal on Thursday confirmed India is in the "last and the most arduous leg of negotiations" with the EU, with both sides working on a daily basis to resolve remaining issues and ready a draft of the proposed bilateral free trade agreement for the summit on January 27. "I'm happy to report that we are very close now. We have closed 20 out of 24 chapters completely. ...