Bastille Day Parade
France has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the annual Bastille Day parade in Paris in July, although the visit is still under consideration.
Mr. Modi’s visit is expected to take place around July 14. As the two countries celebrate the 25th anniversary of their strategic partnership, the PM and French President Emmanuel Macron are expected to discuss several major agreements, including those on the Indo-Pacific region, nuclear power, and defence.
While Mr. Modi has visited France several times, including in May 2022, this will be the first time an Indian Prime Minister has attended the annual military parade since Manmohan Singh was invited as a Bastille Day parade guest in 2009.
The invitation to Mr. Modi comes after Mr. Macron was unable to visit Delhi in March as planned due to a variety of domestic difficulties and schedule conflicts. The administration had previously revealed Mr. Macron’s intentions to visit India in early 2023 following a trip by a top French Minister in October of last year.
The upcoming high-level meeting was also mentioned by Catherine Colonna, the foreign minister of France, who attended the G-20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) in Delhi last month.
At a gathering in Delhi, Ms. Colonna had stated, “Since we are ready to mark this year as the 25th anniversary of the strategic alliance between India and France, now is the time to show greater ambition”, adding that a very visible gesture may be anticipated.
The Elysée Presidential Palace was said to have confirmed the invitation last week, according to French media, which suggested that a sizable strategic deal would also be disclosed at the same time.
The External Affairs Ministry and the French Embassy in Delhi both declined to comment on the rumored visit.
If Mr. Modi accepts, it will add to a very hectic overseas travel calendar over the next months as India continues to walk a precarious tightrope between the western nations and Russia over the Ukraine situation.
The government is especially eager to guarantee a successful G-20 leader summit. It will be important to reach an agreement on a potential joint statement by that time, especially in light of the failure of two G-20 ministerial meetings to reach an agreement, including the FMM, where France threatened to leave if the language from the previous G-20 summit in Indonesia wasn’t accepted by Russia and China.
Fumio Kishida, the prime minister of Japan, invited Mr. Modi to attend the G-7 outreach in Hiroshima in May. He will then fly to Sydney to participate in the Quad summit alongside Mr. Kishida, Mr. Biden, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The first state visit to the United States by an Indian prime minister since 2009 is anticipated for Mr. Modi in June.
The PM will host SCO leaders, including Central Asian leaders and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, China President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the end of June. It is yet unknown if Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, would actually attend the SCO summit, which is scheduled to take place between June 30 and July 2.
Authorities have not confirmed whether Mr. Modi’s July visit to France will be a stand-alone trip or will include stops in other neighboring nations.
Together with Brazilian President Lula, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, he is also scheduled to attend the BRICS summit in Durban in August. On September 9 and 10, the PM will host G-20 leaders in Delhi.
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