PM Modi to attend Bastille Day Parade in Paris as guest of honor

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to attend this year's Bastille Day Parade in Paris as a guest of honor. To mark this important milestone, an Indian armed forces contingent will participate in the Parade alongside their French counterparts, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday as it announced PM Modi's visit.

According to the MEA, Prime Minister Modi has accepted French President Emmanuel Macron’s invitation to attend this year’s Bastille Day Parade in Paris on July 14, 2023 as Guest of Honour on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership.

"Thank you my friend @EmmanuelMacron! I look forward to celebrating Bastille Day and our Strategic Partnership with you and the French people," PM Modi tweeted (in French as well as English) in response to a tweet by President Macron (in French as well as Hindi) saying he would be very happy to welcome the Indian Prime Minister.

"Prime Minister’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, economic cooperation, including in a wide range of industries," the MEA said.

This historic visit will also deliver common initiatives in order to respond to the key challenges of our time, including climate change, biodiversity loss and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals and will be an opportunity for India and France to reaffirm their commitment to multilateralism, including in the context of India’s G20 Presidency, the MEA added.

India and France have a shared vision on peace and security, especially in Europe and the Indo-Pacific and uphold the objectives and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, which are also the basis of cooperation between the two nations in the Indo-Pacific region.

According to information shared by the French Embassy in India through a series of tweets on Friday, July 14 is France’s National Day and it dates back to the French Revolution. "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!" one of the the tweets said.