Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting France later this week to attend the year’s Bastille Day parade as the guest of honour, at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron.
The Bastille Day Parade will witness a 269-member tri-services contingent of the Indian Armed Forces marching alongside their French partners.
The Fete Nationale Francaise is celebrated on July 14 or the National Day in France. It is also known as Bastille Day as this day is the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in 1789 during the French Revolution.
To mark this important milestone, the Indian military contingent would also be part of the marching contingent on Bastille Day, alongside their French counterparts.
Notably, PM Modi's visit will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the "strategic partnership" between France and India.
PM Modi's visit is expected to herald the next phase in the India-France Strategic Partnership by setting new and ambitious goals for our strategic, cultural, scientific, academic, and economic cooperation, including in a wide range of industries, an official statement released by the Indian Embassy in France said earlier.
Following are some of the views by France-based companies, among others:
Chairman and CEO of Naval Group, Pierre Éric Pommelle:
Friends in India share a common understanding and a mutual appreciation of strategic autonomy & self-reliance. It is being celebrated today in the frame of 25 years of strategic partnership between our two countries...My Indian and French colleagues join me to celebrate this long history of friendship & collaborative growth...We join President Emmanuel Macron in welcoming PM Narendra Modi as Guest of Honour for Fête nationale 2023.
Augustin de Romanet, Chairman/CEO at Aeroports de Paris:
It's a great honour for France to welcome PM Modi as the Guest of Honour for Bastille Day as the testimony of the strength of our commitment to this bilateral & long-standing partnership.
Peter Herweck, CEO, Schneider Electric:
As the festivities of Bastille Day in France begin, Schneider Electric welcomes Narendra Modi as the ‘Guest of Honor’ as the two countries celebrate their 25 years of partnership.
