The Hindu : Front Page : Indian contingents wow French crowds

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 15, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Indian contingents wow French crowds

Vaiju Naravane

— PHOTOS: PTI, AFP

PROUD DAY: Indian Army, Navy and Air Force contingents march during the Bastille Day Parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on Tuesday.

Paris: Four hundred Indian soldiers, from the Maratha Light Infantry and contingents from the Navy and the Air Force with their accompanying bands wowed French crowds with their quick, precision marching and impressive uniforms at the Bastille Day Parade in Paris, at which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the guest of honour.

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-km parade.

Drawn from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, the contingent paraded to the sound of Indian martial music played by a 90-member band as French air force jets flew overhead, releasing trails of red, white and blue smoke to represent the colours of the French flag.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s wife Gursharan Kaur with French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s wife, Carla Bruni Sarkozy during the parade.

Naval Commodore Jasvinder Singh and his fellow officers were treated as stars, with impeccably turned out French women asking to be photographed in their company.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s elegant wife, Carla Bruni, a pop singer and former top model, was evidently the afternoon’s big draw with crowds surging forward to meet the presidential couple as they walked down to the lawn to shake hands while Dr. Singh discreetly made his exit and headed for the NAM summit in Sharm El Sheikh.

The Bastille Day march is held each year on July 14, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress in Paris by revolutionaries in 1789.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page