ID :
70438
Wed, 07/15/2009 - 09:38
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/70438
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Indian PM gets rare honour of being Chief Guest at French Day
V Mohan Narayan
Paris, Jul 14 (PTI) In a rare honour for India, Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh was Tuesday the Chief Guest of Honour
at the French National Day celebrations witnessing an
impressive parade in which a contingent of Indian soldiers
also marched to the soul stirring music of 'Saare Jahan Se
Achchha'.
Singh became the first Indian leader to be the Chief
Guest at the French celebrations, reflecting the closeness of
ties between the two countries.
Sarkozy was the Chief Guest at the Republic Day last
year and his invitation to Singh is a gesture of
reciprocation.
France does not have the custom of inviting foreign
heads of government or state to be the Chief Guest and only
on few occasions this honour is bestowed on foreign leaders.
The event, during which the military parade opened
with a detachment of 400 soldiers from the three defence
services of India, bore a striking resemblance to the Republic
Day celebrations in Delhi.
The Indian soldiers paraded down the 1.5-km stretch of
Champs Elysees, along with French soldiers to the sound of
Indian martial music played by a 90-member military band.
Maratha Regiment, one of the oldest infantry regiments
of Indian army created in 1768 and which was deployed in
Europe during the Second World War during the Italian
campaign, was part of the parade.
The soldiers participated to the tunes of 'Sare
Jahan Se Achchha' and 'Kadam Kadam Badhaye Jaa'.
While the army band played 'Bhopal', 'Hanste Lusai' and
'Veer Sipahi' to quick march, the Navy marched impressively to
the tunes of 'Jai Bharati' and 'INS Vikrant'.
The Air Force band was greeted lustily by the parade
watchers as they did a quick march. The event also witnessed
an impressive fly past.
The Indian contingent's participation at the parade
marked the commemoration of Indian army's association with its
French counterpart during the two World Wars.
Under the British command, Indian soldiers along with the
French forces, as part of two Allied Divisions, fought Germans
in the northern French town of Neuve-Chapelle in March 1915.
Bastille Day, as the French National Day is called,
commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison by the
people, which took place on July 14, 1789 and marked the
beginning of the French Revolution.
The Bastille prison symbolised absolute and arbitrary
power of Louis XVI's ancient regime. With the capture of
Bastille, people sent out a strong signal that the King's
power was no longer absolute.
Though only seven prisoners were lodged in Bastille when
it was taken over, the event became a symbol of liberty and
the fight against oppression for all French citizens and
marked the end of absolute monarchy and emergence of a
sovereign nation and subsequently the creation of a Republic
in 1792.
Bastille Day was declared as a French national holiday
on July 6, 1880, on the recommendation of socialist politician
Benjamin Raspail.
At this year's celebrations, Cambodian President Hun
Sen, who is on a bilateral visit to France, is also the Guest
of Honour along with German President Horst Kochler.
After the parade, Singh and Sarkozy had a 'working'
lunch discussing ways to meet the bilateral trade target of 12
billion Euros in the face of the global economic crisis.
The bilateral trade, which had witnessed a considerable
upward trend over the last several years, saw no increase last
year because of the global meltdown. The bilateral commerce
this year is expected to pick up again.
The Prime Minister's visit takes place at a time when the
two countries are at an advance stage of negotiations for
setting up of two nuclear power plants in Maharashtra through
a joint venture in pursuance to a framework agreement in civil
nuclear energy field signed in September last year.
France had been in the forefront in furthering India's
case for ending 34-year-old isolation in the nuclear field and
strongly supported New Delhi in this regard at the Nuclear
Suppliers Group meeting last August.
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and
French Nuclear company Areva are preparing a contract under
which two power plants of 1,650 MW each will be set up in
Jaitapur in Maharashtra.
Discussions on the two power plants are going smoothly
and the contract is expected to be finalised in about two
months. The contract is being prepared on the basis of an MoU
signed between NPCIL and Areva last February.
The power plants will be built and operated by the
NPCIL with the technology and engineering help by Areva.
On reprocessing, France has made it clear that the
nuclear fuel could be reprocessed by Indian facilities but if
they do not have the expertise, Paris could consider
undertaking this in France.
The two countries also have substantial defence
cooperation, which spans from supply of fighter aircraft to
regular joint military exercises.
French fighter Rafale is in the race for India's USD
10.2-billion tender for 126 aircraft. Talks are also
underway for upgradation of Indian fleet of 51 French-made
Mirage fighters besides joint development of a short-range
missile.
On NPT and CTBT, France wants to see progress so that
these pacts become universal.
Regarding climate change, France favours leading
economies like India and China to put a cap on greenhouse gas
emissions as "business as usual approach" cannot continue.
It also advocates the need for legally-binding
targets, including for developed nations, to reduce emissions
by 20 per cent by 2020.
Initiated in 1998, the Indo-French strategic partnership
corresponds to France's vision of India as a country that will
play a "first rank role" on the international scene, the
suitable place of which should be recognised taking into
account its size and evolution.
This is the reason why France supports the Indian
candidature to a permanent member seat of the UN Security
Council and has also actively backed the evolution in favour
of India of the export rules of the nuclear goods, according
to the French government website.
"The aim of this partnership is also to reinforce the
exchanges on issues of common interest, be it the coming
global stakes (economic and financial regulation, environment
and climate, food security) or regional issues which concern
our security.
"The last bilateral Summits have enabled to give
a new impetus to this strategic partnership in opening new
perspective in the fields of essential cooperation for the
future," it said. PTI VMN
pmr
Paris, Jul 14 (PTI) In a rare honour for India, Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh was Tuesday the Chief Guest of Honour
at the French National Day celebrations witnessing an
impressive parade in which a contingent of Indian soldiers
also marched to the soul stirring music of 'Saare Jahan Se
Achchha'.
Singh became the first Indian leader to be the Chief
Guest at the French celebrations, reflecting the closeness of
ties between the two countries.
Sarkozy was the Chief Guest at the Republic Day last
year and his invitation to Singh is a gesture of
reciprocation.
France does not have the custom of inviting foreign
heads of government or state to be the Chief Guest and only
on few occasions this honour is bestowed on foreign leaders.
The event, during which the military parade opened
with a detachment of 400 soldiers from the three defence
services of India, bore a striking resemblance to the Republic
Day celebrations in Delhi.
The Indian soldiers paraded down the 1.5-km stretch of
Champs Elysees, along with French soldiers to the sound of
Indian martial music played by a 90-member military band.
Maratha Regiment, one of the oldest infantry regiments
of Indian army created in 1768 and which was deployed in
Europe during the Second World War during the Italian
campaign, was part of the parade.
The soldiers participated to the tunes of 'Sare
Jahan Se Achchha' and 'Kadam Kadam Badhaye Jaa'.
While the army band played 'Bhopal', 'Hanste Lusai' and
'Veer Sipahi' to quick march, the Navy marched impressively to
the tunes of 'Jai Bharati' and 'INS Vikrant'.
The Air Force band was greeted lustily by the parade
watchers as they did a quick march. The event also witnessed
an impressive fly past.
The Indian contingent's participation at the parade
marked the commemoration of Indian army's association with its
French counterpart during the two World Wars.
Under the British command, Indian soldiers along with the
French forces, as part of two Allied Divisions, fought Germans
in the northern French town of Neuve-Chapelle in March 1915.
Bastille Day, as the French National Day is called,
commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison by the
people, which took place on July 14, 1789 and marked the
beginning of the French Revolution.
The Bastille prison symbolised absolute and arbitrary
power of Louis XVI's ancient regime. With the capture of
Bastille, people sent out a strong signal that the King's
power was no longer absolute.
Though only seven prisoners were lodged in Bastille when
it was taken over, the event became a symbol of liberty and
the fight against oppression for all French citizens and
marked the end of absolute monarchy and emergence of a
sovereign nation and subsequently the creation of a Republic
in 1792.
Bastille Day was declared as a French national holiday
on July 6, 1880, on the recommendation of socialist politician
Benjamin Raspail.
At this year's celebrations, Cambodian President Hun
Sen, who is on a bilateral visit to France, is also the Guest
of Honour along with German President Horst Kochler.
After the parade, Singh and Sarkozy had a 'working'
lunch discussing ways to meet the bilateral trade target of 12
billion Euros in the face of the global economic crisis.
The bilateral trade, which had witnessed a considerable
upward trend over the last several years, saw no increase last
year because of the global meltdown. The bilateral commerce
this year is expected to pick up again.
The Prime Minister's visit takes place at a time when the
two countries are at an advance stage of negotiations for
setting up of two nuclear power plants in Maharashtra through
a joint venture in pursuance to a framework agreement in civil
nuclear energy field signed in September last year.
France had been in the forefront in furthering India's
case for ending 34-year-old isolation in the nuclear field and
strongly supported New Delhi in this regard at the Nuclear
Suppliers Group meeting last August.
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and
French Nuclear company Areva are preparing a contract under
which two power plants of 1,650 MW each will be set up in
Jaitapur in Maharashtra.
Discussions on the two power plants are going smoothly
and the contract is expected to be finalised in about two
months. The contract is being prepared on the basis of an MoU
signed between NPCIL and Areva last February.
The power plants will be built and operated by the
NPCIL with the technology and engineering help by Areva.
On reprocessing, France has made it clear that the
nuclear fuel could be reprocessed by Indian facilities but if
they do not have the expertise, Paris could consider
undertaking this in France.
The two countries also have substantial defence
cooperation, which spans from supply of fighter aircraft to
regular joint military exercises.
French fighter Rafale is in the race for India's USD
10.2-billion tender for 126 aircraft. Talks are also
underway for upgradation of Indian fleet of 51 French-made
Mirage fighters besides joint development of a short-range
missile.
On NPT and CTBT, France wants to see progress so that
these pacts become universal.
Regarding climate change, France favours leading
economies like India and China to put a cap on greenhouse gas
emissions as "business as usual approach" cannot continue.
It also advocates the need for legally-binding
targets, including for developed nations, to reduce emissions
by 20 per cent by 2020.
Initiated in 1998, the Indo-French strategic partnership
corresponds to France's vision of India as a country that will
play a "first rank role" on the international scene, the
suitable place of which should be recognised taking into
account its size and evolution.
This is the reason why France supports the Indian
candidature to a permanent member seat of the UN Security
Council and has also actively backed the evolution in favour
of India of the export rules of the nuclear goods, according
to the French government website.
"The aim of this partnership is also to reinforce the
exchanges on issues of common interest, be it the coming
global stakes (economic and financial regulation, environment
and climate, food security) or regional issues which concern
our security.
"The last bilateral Summits have enabled to give
a new impetus to this strategic partnership in opening new
perspective in the fields of essential cooperation for the
future," it said. PTI VMN
pmr
