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From left, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur, French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife, Bun Rany, attend the Bastille Day military parade, in Paris, Tuesday, July 14, 2009.
France celebrated Bastille Day on Tuesday with a grand military parade down the majestic Champs Elysees in Paris joined by a detachment of Indian troops. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the guest of honour this year.
France celebrated Bastille Day Tuesday with a massive military parade down Paris’s majestic Champs Elysee followed by concerts, fireworks and garden parties as the country marks the 1789 storming of the infamous Bastille prison that marked the start of the French Revolution.
The main feature of the day was a huge military parade involving 5,000 men, about 300 military vehicles, 83 motorbikes, 280 horses, 68 planes and 37 helicopters, according to French officials. The parade moved down the Champs Elysees, from the capital’s landmark Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde
Security is tight across Paris, with nearly 10,000 policemen and gendarmes spread around the city’s landmark sites, including the Eiffel Tower, where French rock hero Johnny Halliday will perform at a public concert later Tuesday.
"A proud day for India"This year the Indian military marched for the first time on the Champs Elysees, where 400 of its soldiers took part in the march under the watchful eyes of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
India, the guest of honour for this year’s parade, sent three battalions.
In uniforms continuing traditions of the former British Empire, they marched to tunes “less militaristic” than those used by the French soldiers.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was the guest of honour at the 2008 military parade that commemorated the founding of the Indian republic in New Delhi.
"It is a proud day for India as our troops will march in a country where they fought during World War I," defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar told AFP as the contingent left last week on two Airbus planes sent by France.Thousands on Indian troops died in Europe in World War 1. Indian soldiers under British command were part of two Allied divisions that fought the Germans around the northern French town of Neuve-Chapelle in 1915.
France celebrated Bastille Day Tuesday with a massive military parade down Paris’s majestic Champs Elysee followed by concerts, fireworks and garden parties as the country marks the 1789 storming of the infamous Bastille prison that marked the start of the French Revolution.
The main feature of the day was a huge military parade involving 5,000 men, about 300 military vehicles, 83 motorbikes, 280 horses, 68 planes and 37 helicopters, according to French officials. The parade moved down the Champs Elysees, from the capital’s landmark Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde
Security is tight across Paris, with nearly 10,000 policemen and gendarmes spread around the city’s landmark sites, including the Eiffel Tower, where French rock hero Johnny Halliday will perform at a public concert later Tuesday.
"A proud day for India"This year the Indian military marched for the first time on the Champs Elysees, where 400 of its soldiers took part in the march under the watchful eyes of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
India, the guest of honour for this year’s parade, sent three battalions.
In uniforms continuing traditions of the former British Empire, they marched to tunes “less militaristic” than those used by the French soldiers.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was the guest of honour at the 2008 military parade that commemorated the founding of the Indian republic in New Delhi.
"It is a proud day for India as our troops will march in a country where they fought during World War I," defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar told AFP as the contingent left last week on two Airbus planes sent by France.Thousands on Indian troops died in Europe in World War 1. Indian soldiers under British command were part of two Allied divisions that fought the Germans around the northern French town of Neuve-Chapelle in 1915.
Close military and economic ties
The decision to invite Indian soldiers underscores the close relations existing between France and India, said French defence ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire.
France is one of the key arms suppliers for India's technology-hungry military, and the French firm Dassault Aviation is in the race for a mammoth contract to supply 126 fighters to the Indian air force.France also wants the G8 grouping of rich nations to be expanded to include major emerging economies such as India, the world's biggest democracy.Among the French contingent, pride of place in the parade has been given to troops recently returned from overseas operations, notably in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Ivory Coast and at sea off the pirate-infested Somali coast.
The French military will also be showing off some its new military arsenal, such as the Nexter armoured vehicle and the Caesar cannon, which has a range of 42 kilometres.
While 400 soldiers marched briskly down the Champs-Elysees in front of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Tuesday, defense deals between the two countries, will in all probability, move inversely proportional in speed. In the working lunch between President Sarkozy and Prime Minister Singh, the slow pace of defense deals is sure to come up, but officials were tight lipped about details regarding the meeting.
All they would reveal was that regional issues like AF-PAK, terrorism and yes defense cooperation could come up at the talks. New Delhi is interested in modernising its 51 Mirage 200H which is approximately a billion Euro deal, and quite naturally, the French would want it signed sealed and delivered as soon as possible. But, India moves slowly in defense deals. Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, who is a part of the Prime Minister''s delegation, said before the Prime Minister''s meeting with the French President, that negotiations were proceeding at a pace that was expected in such huge deals.
The three corps from the Indian army, the Army Corps, foreground, the Marine Corps, in white behind, and the Air Force Corps, behind in blue, parade during the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, Tuesday July 14, 2009
The decision to invite Indian soldiers underscores the close relations existing between France and India, said French defence ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire.
France is one of the key arms suppliers for India's technology-hungry military, and the French firm Dassault Aviation is in the race for a mammoth contract to supply 126 fighters to the Indian air force.France also wants the G8 grouping of rich nations to be expanded to include major emerging economies such as India, the world's biggest democracy.Among the French contingent, pride of place in the parade has been given to troops recently returned from overseas operations, notably in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Ivory Coast and at sea off the pirate-infested Somali coast.
The French military will also be showing off some its new military arsenal, such as the Nexter armoured vehicle and the Caesar cannon, which has a range of 42 kilometres.
While 400 soldiers marched briskly down the Champs-Elysees in front of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Tuesday, defense deals between the two countries, will in all probability, move inversely proportional in speed. In the working lunch between President Sarkozy and Prime Minister Singh, the slow pace of defense deals is sure to come up, but officials were tight lipped about details regarding the meeting.
All they would reveal was that regional issues like AF-PAK, terrorism and yes defense cooperation could come up at the talks. New Delhi is interested in modernising its 51 Mirage 200H which is approximately a billion Euro deal, and quite naturally, the French would want it signed sealed and delivered as soon as possible. But, India moves slowly in defense deals. Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, who is a part of the Prime Minister''s delegation, said before the Prime Minister''s meeting with the French President, that negotiations were proceeding at a pace that was expected in such huge deals.
The three corps from the Indian army, the Army Corps, foreground, the Marine Corps, in white behind, and the Air Force Corps, behind in blue, parade during the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, Tuesday July 14, 2009
The Army Corps from the Indian army parades during the Bastille Day military parade, in Paris.
The Army Corps from the Indian army parades during the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, Tuesday July 14, 2009
A French Army paratrooper, the Indian flag attached to his back, prepares to land on the Place de la Concorde during the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, Tuesday July 14, 2009
