Arriving in India on Thursday, January 25 for a two-day state visit, President Emmanuel Macron attended a military parade in New Delhi on Friday.

Tanks, fighter jets, missile launchers and regiments in full uniform: French President Emmanuel Macron attended, this Friday, January 26, the show of force of the Indian army during a colorful military parade in New Delhi.

The head of state was the guest of honour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India's strongman at the celebrations of the Indian Constitution, which came into force on January 26, 1950, two years after independence.

Narendra Modi, who was the guest of honour at a military parade on July 14 in Paris, reciprocated six months later as industrial and military partnerships intensified between the two countries.

Chariot parade

The two leaders watched the parade side by side from the stands in a ceremony that blended British royal traditions and contemporary Indian symbols.

Emmanuel Macron walked down the grand parade route towards India Gate, India's Arc-de-Triumph, in a carriage drawn by six horses and carried by a detachment of cavalry with great pomp.

After the parade began, accompanied by the Indian national anthem and 21 cannon shots, 150 French legionnaires, renowned for their highly rhythmic march, opened the celebrations, followed by a flyover by two French Rafale fighter jets.

Under the scorching sun obscured by pollution, Russian T-90 tanks, camel cavalry, infantry, sailors and airmen follow each other in a very aggressive manner.

Military cooperation

The parade was marked by “made-in-India” Sukhoi-30 and Tejas fighter jets, a symbol of the Indian army, which is still largely equipped with Russian equipment but is looking to diversify supplies and upgrade its local weaponry.

Women also take centre stage this year in parades and flower-floated floats that extol the virtues of the 28 States of the Indian Federation.

Narendra Modi, determined to showcase India's strength on the international stage, first invited US President Joe Biden, but ultimately did not follow up amid tensions over a plot to assassinate Sikh separatists in New York.

France is eyeing new military contracts with India, whose main arms supplier remains Russia, but concerned about India’s strategic autonomy, it is diversifying its acquisitions. It also hopes to sell six EPR nuclear reactors.

India has bought 36 French Rafales for its air force and is in talks to acquire 26 more for its navy. It is also looking to consolidate its defence industrial base through joint ventures with French groups, from Dassault to missile maker MBDA.