French President Emmanuel Macron gave Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – his guest of honour at the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris – the red carpet treatment, as the two countries sealed high-profile defence deals.
The annual festivities – which mark the storming of the Bastille prison at the start of the French revolution in 1789 – kicked off with French and Indian soldiers marching down the tree-lined Champs-Elysees, while French-made Rafale fighter jets India bought in 2015 took part in a flypast over the Arc de Triomphe.
It comes after India deepened its defence ties with France, agreeing to two big defence contracts – initial approval to buy an extra 26 Rafale jets for its navy and three Scorpene class submarines.
Mr Modi arrived in France for a two-day visit on Thursday when he was granted the Legion of Honour, France’s highest award.
“(India) is a giant in the history of the world which will have a determining role in our future,” Mr Macron told a meeting of military leaders. “It is also a strategic partner and a friend.”
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Mr Modi was also due to attend a lavish banquet at the Louvre Museum with the French president later – weeks after the Indian PM was given the rare honour of a White House state dinner in Washington after the US lifted a decade-old visa ban on him.
However, his two-day visit got under way as the European Parliament criticised his human rights record amid accusations of discrimination against minorities.
EU parliamentarians on Thursday approved a motion urging India to end violence in the northeastern Manipur state and to protect minorities there.
It criticised the “nationalistic rhetoric” of the local state government, run by Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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Mr Modi’s red carpet treatment on Bastille Day is “an affront not only to India’s minority communities, journalists and human rights defenders, but also to India as a democracy,” said French MEP Pierre Larrouturou.
The French Ligue des Droits de l’Homme (LDH) rights group tweeted: “The LDH, concerned about India’s authoritarian turn, denounces this invitation which sends a disastrous signal, negating our democratic values.”
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In 2017, Mr Macron invited the then US President Donald Trump to the Bastille Day military parade.
This year’s celebrations are taking place under tight security, two weeks after riots erupted across the country following the fatal police shooting of a teenager in Paris.
More than 100,000 police officers have been deployed around the country to prevent a new outbreak of unrest.
Mr Macron was criticised over his handling of the crisis, and faced a backlash after attending an Elton John gig as the disorder took hold.
