Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the guest of honour at this year’s Bastille Day Parade in Paris on July 14, the two nations announced.
The prime minister’s visit is expected to herald the next phase of the India-France strategic partnership by setting new and ambitious goals for strategic, cultural, scientific, academic and economic cooperation, including in a wide range of industries, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on May 5.
An Indian armed forces’ contingent will also participate in the parade along with their French counterparts, it said.
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership, Prime Minister Modi has accepted French President Emmanuel Macron’s invitation to attend this year’s Bastille Day Parade as the guest of honour, the statement said.
Reacting to the announcement, Macron in a tweet in French and Hindi said, “Dear Narendra, it will be my pleasure to welcome you to Paris as the guest of honour for the 14th of July parade.”
Responding to Macron’s tweet, Modi said, “Thank you my friend @EmmanuelMacron! I look forward to celebrating Bastille Day and our Strategic Partnership with you and the French people.”
France has been the Republic Day guest of honour five times since 1951. Prime Minister Modi will be the second Indian prime minister to be the Guest of Honour at Bastille Day after Manmohan Singh in 2009.
