Indian soldiers march down Champs Elysees

For the first time, a contingent of Indian troops opened the parade at the French National Day celebrations

A 400-strong contingent of the Indian Army created history yesterday by becoming the first foreign contingent to lead the parade at Champs Elysees in Paris on the French National Day.
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The soldiers from the Maratha Light Infantry marched along the 1.5-km stretch to the tunes of Saare Jahaan Se Accha and Kadam Kadam Badhaye Jaa before a packed audience that included Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.



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Brigadier Sanjay Holey, commandant of the Maratha Light Infantry centre in Belgaum, said, "This is a historic moment and a matter of pride for our country.
It is the first time that a contingent from India has been invited to lead the national day celebration of a foreign country."
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He added that thousands of young recruits in Belgaum were glued to the television and applauded when the soldiers paraded in Paris.
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The soldiers were handpicked from a batch of 20,000 soldiers in the infantry.
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The best 144 were shortlisted by May 25 and were put through a rigorous routine.

The selected soldiers were made to march on the streets of Belgaum for two hours every day, until they left for Delhi on June 20 and continued marching at Rajpath. The contingent finally flew to France on July 7.