PM Modi to be second Indian PM as guest of honour at France’s Bastille Day. What is the event about? Top 5 points
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the guest of honour at France's Bastille Day parade on July 14. He will be the second Indian PM to attend the ceremony.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the guest of honour at France’s Bastille Day celebrations on July 14. An Indian armed forces' contingent will also participate in the parade along with their French counterparts, said the ministry of external affairs (MEA). France's President Emmanuel Macron, in a tweet in both French and Hindi, expressed delight as he said he would be happy to welcome Modi as the guest of honour in Paris.
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What is France's Bastille Day parade?
1. July 14 is marked as France’s National Day. “It’s a moment for the French to celebrate what binds them together, especially the values of “liberty, equality, fraternity” - which, by the way, are also in the Preamble to India’s Constitution!” said French embassy in India.
2. One of the revolutionary days in Paris and now a national holiday, the July 14 ("Bastille Day") is celebrated with a mixture of solemn military parades and easygoing dancing and fireworks. The storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 has been commemorated in France for more than a century.
3. Every Bastille Day, Paris’ famous avenue des Champs-Elysées hosts a military parade - similar to India's Republic Day parade on Kartavya Path.
4. French heads of state have been the Republic Day guests of honour five times since 1951. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the 2nd Indian PM to be the guest of honour at Bastille Day, after Manmohan Singh in 2009.
5. PM Modi's presence in Paris will also hold special significance as France and India are celebrating 25 years of their strategic partnership this year. “Indian and French troops will march side by side in the military parade in Paris,” French embassy in India said.
