On a hot, golden summer’s day, with over 5,000 guests crowding the lawns and the gilded salons of the Elysee Palace, French President Nicolas Sarkozy paid tribute to India saying he was happy and privileged to welcome Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh. He described India as “one billion people and a friend of France” and said Dr. Singh had been recently “re-elected by over 700 million people to head the largest democracy in the world.”
India was the guest of honour at the Bastille Day parade in France. Mr. Sarkozy made his remarks while introduction Dr. Singh to his guests after a working lunch. This year marks the 220th anniversary of the French Revolution.
Terrorism and how best to fight it, the situation in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, West Asia and the Gulf were some of the issues that received particular attention during the discussions over lunch. Furthering cooperation in the defence and nuclear sectors also featured high on the agenda. France hopes to sell Rafale fighter planes to India and Areva is close to finalizing agreements with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited.
Relations between India and France have developed rapidly in recent years and an annual leadership summit has now become the norm. There is a strong convergence of interest on threats posted by terrorism and measures to counter it and the two leaders agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the area.
“In inviting the Indian Prime Minister to be the Guest of Honour at the Bastille Day Parade, Paris certainly wished to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. It also wants to improve its position as India’s third largest supplier of defence equipment,” commented the right wing paper le Figaro.
Before the glittering, select crowd in attendance at the French President’s traditional garden party, Dr. Singh made a cal for further strengthening the strategic partnership that had developed between the two countries since 1998. He said it was “a rare privilege and a great honour for India’s armed forces to be invited to take part in the grand spectacle that is the 14th of July parade.”
Recalling the 1789 French Revolution that Bastille Day or the French National Day seeks to commemorate, Dr.Singh said: “Two hundred and twenty years ago, this great city saw the emergence of a powerful voice, the universal recognition of the ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. These ideals have changed the course of history. Our own freedom struggle took inspiration from the French Revolution and guided the fathers of our Constitution.”
Dr. Singh said on a more personal note that Mr. Sarkozy had been of “enormous support” to him “during the two and a half years he has been in office. I would like to see the strategic partnership between India and France strengthen day by day and every day so that we may work for human rights, human dignity throughout the world,” Dr. Singh said. His words in English were charmingly, if not always accurately, translated into French by Carla Bruni, Mr. Sarkozy’s elegant wife. However, this was not the only mistake the Elysee made. Ms. Singh’s name was repeatedly spelt erroneously as Gurushara Khaur.
But the atmosphere of goodwill and bonhomie was evident. During their lunch, Mr. Sarkozy said India was a major force in the 21st century which would fully realize its great power potential.
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