PARIS — With zipping aircraft, a huge Bastille Day parade in Paris, and more than 100,000 police stationed around the nation, France is celebrating its national holiday on Friday. This is done to stop another breakout of violence in disadvantaged areas.

The annual celebrations of the French Revolution's beginning on July 14, 1789, this year take place in the wake of the country's worst rioting in nearly 20 years, which followed the fatal police shooting of a teen with North African ancestry that exposed resentment over systemic inequality and racial discrimination.

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With Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron watching from the VIP tribune, India is the special guest at this year's Bastille Day parade. Before thousands of French soldiers, about 240 Indian soldiers marched down the Champs-Elysees, and French-made Indian airplanes took part in the customary flyover above the occasion.

The decision to highlight India on Bastille Day comes as France seeks to deepen its partnerships with India in order to combat climate change, promote military trade, and advance strategic Indo-Pacific relations. Nevertheless, despite concerns voiced by European parliamentarians, rights organizations, and others, human rights were absent from the extensive agenda.

The annual Bastille Day military parade is held in Paris on Friday, July 14, 2023. Attendees include Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, First Lady Brigitte Macron, and French President Emmanuel Macron. The Bastille Day parade this year's honoree is India. (via AP, Gonzalez Fuentes/Pool)
The annual Bastille Day military parade is held in Paris on Friday, July 14, 2023. Attendees include Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, First Lady Brigitte Macron, and French President Emmanuel Macron. According to Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool for the AP, India will be the special guest during this year's Bastille Day celebration.
Last year's Bastille Day celebrations, which focused on Russia's war in Ukraine, carried over into this year's activities. The Caesar anti-missile batteries that France is giving to Ukraine were among the vehicles on exhibit, and Ukrainian officials were asked to sit with Macron in the VIP seats.

Arman Soldin of the news organization Agence France-Presse, a French journalist killed in Ukraine earlier this year, received a posthumous Legion of Honor decoration from Macron on the eve of France's national day.

6,500 marchers, 94 aircraft and helicopters, 219 ground vehicles, 200 horses, and 86 canines are all present in the Bastille Day procession. The French ideas of "liberty, equality, and fraternity" are celebrated in towns and cities all around the country.

On Friday, July 14, 2023, as he and General Thierry Burkhard, the Chief of the French Defense Staff, watch the Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, Macron waves to the crowd. Christophe Ena for AP Photos
On Friday, July 14, 2023, as he and General Thierry Burkhard, the Chief of the French Defense Staff, watch the Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, Macron waves to the crowd. Christopher Ena/AP Photo
The phrase, however, is meaningless to many residents in run-down housing projects with roots in former French colonies who also face racism on a daily basis and a lack of job opportunities. These flaws came to light following the police execution of Nahel Merzouk, 17, last month during a traffic stop in the Paris district of Nanterre.