France honours India in Bastille Day parade

[Coventina]

Source: AFP

PARIS (AFP) — A proud detachment of Indian troops on Tuesday led thousands of French comrades down the Champs Elysees in Paris for the annual military parade to mark the Bastille Day national holiday.

The 400 soldiers filed down the elegant venue under the eyes of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, invited by President Nicolas Sarkozy to mark France's strategic relationship with the world's biggest democracy.

Dressed in ceremonial uniforms of red and black headdress, cummerbunds and white putees and gloves, the Indians marched from the Arc de Triomphe to the presidential stand at the end of the 1.5-kilometre (one mile) parade.

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 in a ceremony shown live by all Indian television news channels.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hqylqCoiYPftf43gAjXcsEGtLyfw

[Captain Hilts]

1. That's cool!

[tocqueville]

2. Bastille Day pics (heavy)

ndian troops head the Bastille Day military parade nine Alphajets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France, or French Acrobatic Patrol, fly over on the Champs Elysees on July 14, 2009 in Paris. Indian troops star at France's Bastille Day military parade, with a proud 400-strong detachment marching down the Champs Elysees under the eyes of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.





A Caracal helicopter of the French Airforce flies over Paris as part of the Bastille Day military parade on July 14, 2009





From left, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's wife, Jeannine de Hoop Scheffer, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 's wife Gursharan Kaur, French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife, Bun Rany, applaud as they attend the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, Tuesday July 14, 2009.



French pioneers of the Foreign Legion parade for Bastille Day celebrations Place de la Concorde on July 14, 2009 in Paris.



French Republican horse guards parade for Bastille Day celebrations



A French Army paratrooper, the Indian flag attached to his back, prepares to land on the Place de la Concorde









From left, German President Horst Koehler, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh applaud as they watch the Indian Army Corps

[On the Road]

3. France Honors Indian Idependence?

They just can't resist sticking it in the eye of the British, can they?

:D

[Joe Chi Minh]

4. Not only by the celebration of their independence, in itself, but by the concept of honouring a

nation of brown-skinned furriners so regally.

I don't know whether Sarkozy is a good man or a bad man, but the more I read about him, the more deeply impressed I am by his political imagination and resourcefulness. I think he's a political genius.