Why India-France ties are strong, what’s the significance of PM Modi’s visit

News Snapshot:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the Guest of Honour at France’s Bastille Day parade in Paris on Friday. The visit coincides with 25 years of the oldest among India’s almost 30 strategic partnerships around the world — and one of the few that has been marked by “total convergence” ever since the two nations committed themselves to it in 1998. Four French Presidents and three Indian Prime Ministers have nurtured this relationship over the last quarter century. Manmohan Singh was the chief guest at the 2009 parade, which opened with Indian tri-services personnel marching to Saare Jahan Se Achha...