Manmohan Singh to be chief guest at French National Day

July 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Sunday led the nation in paying homage to the martyrs of the Kargil war on its 10th anniversary. "I join the entire nation in paying homage to the martyrs of the Kargil war.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh, left for the French capital, Paris, today to be the Chief Guest of Honour at France's National Day celebrations on July 14th. He is the first Indian leader to be bestowed this honour, as France does not have a tradition of inviting foreign heads of state to be chief guests at their Bastille Day or National Day celebrations.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left Monday for a four-day trip to Paris, where he will attend the French National Day parade, and the Egyptian resort town of Sharm-el-Sheikh for the 15th Non Aligned Movement (NAM) summit. Manmohan Singh, who is the first foreign leader to be accorded the honour of being chief guest at the Bastille Day parade, will be in Paris for a day before leaving for Sharm-el-Sheikh.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday underlined India's commitment to strengthening the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) and its desire to build stronger ties with Paris. The highlight of Manmohan Singh's trip will be his meeting Wednesday with his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the 15th NAM summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday underlined India's commitment to strengthening the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and its desire to strengthen strategic partnership with Paris in all areas, including civil nuclear cooperation and defence. Manmohan Singh heads to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to attend the 15th NAM summit Tuesday after a short trip to Paris where he will be the the chief guest at the July 14 National Day celebrations.

July 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Two days after returning from the G8-G5 summit in Italy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is leaving for France Monday on a 24-hour visit before flying to Egypt to attend the non-aligned summit where he will also meet with Pakistan's prime minister on the sidelines. In Paris, Manmohan Singh will be the guest of honour at the Bastille Day, officially celebrated as the French National Day on July 14.

July 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh goes to Paris Monday, France is moving ahead rapidly to implement its bilateral civil nuclear pact with India. French company Areva is close to finalising a contract for two nuclear reactors to be set up in Maharashtra.

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - France Thursday endorsed India's call for reform of the United Nations and backed India for a permanent seat in the Security Council. "If we want the Security Council to remain a legitimate place for handling peace and security crises in the world, it is absolutely necessary to have India as well as a couple of others as permanent members, French envoy to India Jerome Bonnafont said here.

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The logistics of the meeting next week between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm-el-Sheikh are being worked out, a ministry of external affairs official said Thursday. Though no dates have been fixed, the two leaders will hold talks after their foreign secretaries meet in Sharm-el-Sheikh, where leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) will gather for their 15th summit.

July 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A 270 personnel contingent of the Indian Armed Forces comprising marching columns and a combined military band from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force left here today for Paris to participate in the French National Day. Yesterday, the first batch comprising 130 personnel left for Paris.

July 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A 400-strong contingent of the three wings of Indian defence forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) performed a full-dress rehearsal here today ahead of their visit to France to participate in a parade making National Day celebrations in France on July 14. This is the for the first time that all the three services - Army, Navy and Air Force will be participating in the National Day celebrations of another country.

May 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Underlining global confidence in India's growing stature, French President Nicolas Sarkozy Friday warmly congratulated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his re-election and invited him to Paris as chief guest on France's national day July 14. 'Through the elections which were recently concluded and which constitute a remarkable testimony to their attachment to democracy, the Indian people have chosen to repose once again their trust in the representatives of the Congress Party and the alliance that it leads,' Sarkozy said in his message to Manmohan Singh.

May 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Saturday rang up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulating him as India's ruling coalition was on its way to victory in the Lok Sabha elections. According to sources in the Prime Minister's Office, Manmohan Singh is expected to call on Sonia Gandhi later in the evening when all results of the election are known.

April 21st, 2009 PATNA - Manmohan Singh is not the final choice for prime minister if the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) comes back to power, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad asserted Tuesday and said the decision on the top job would be taken only after the elections. Though the Congress has projected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the man for the job if UPA wins the polls, key alliance partner Lalu Prasad said the decision would be taken by all the constituents of the UPA, not just the Congress.

March 27th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - Bharatiya Janata Pary's (BJP) prime ministerial aspirant L.K. Advani Friday reiterated his call to Manmohan Singh to contest the Lok Sabha polls instead of becoming prime minister as a Rajya Sabha member.