New Delhi: A 400-strong Indian military detachment took part in the Bastille Day parade in France on Tuesday.
Drawn from the Army, Navy and the Air Force, the contingent paraded to the sound of Indian martial music played by a 90-member band.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was in Italy for the G8 Summit, was invited to attend the July 14 French national holiday event as guest of honour by Sarkozy, who attended India's Republic Day celebrations in January 2008.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office said, "India has a primary role on the international scene and we support India's candidacy to become a UN Security Council permanent member.”
Inviting Indian soldiers to take part in the Bastille Day march for the first time shows that France wants to emphasise its close relations with India.
The parade, one of Paris's biggest annual events, lets France show off its military might. The show ends with parachutists being dropped onto the Champs Elysee.
The parade is held each year on July 14, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille Jail in Paris by revolutionaries on July 14, 1789.
It was the symbolic starting point of the movement that led to the first French republic.
The Bastille Day celebrations have been held under heightened security since an attempted attack on former president Jacques Chirac in 2002.
What’s on the agenda
Nuclear cooperation will be high on the two PMs agenda.
India hopes to get a reassurance on nuclear cooperation, which is critical after a G8 move to limit the transfer of nuclear enrichment and reprocessing technology.
If the G8 move wins the approval of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, transfer of such technologies will be restricted to NPT members alone and India is not an NPT member.
What to expect
The two leaders hope their defence and nuclear ties pick up pace.
The PM wants Sarkozy to help deal with those new restrictions on nuclear technology put up by the G8.
France, a key supplier for the Indian military, wants to build on that status. France is interested in selling 197 helicopters to the Indian military. Euro-copter is regarded as a frontrunner for the contract.
France is looking beyond the Scorpene contract. They are looking at a second line of submarines for the Indian Navy.
French firm Dassault Aviation is in the race for a mammoth contract to supply 126 fighters to India.
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