France celebrates Bastille Day with pomp, a tribute to India and extra police to prevent new unrest

PARIS (AP) — France is celebrating its national holiday Friday with whizzing warplanes and a grand Bastille Day parade in Paris -- and with more than 100,000 police deployed around the country to prevent a new outbreak of unrest in underprivileged neighborhoods.

This year, the annual events celebrating the start of the French Revolution on July 14, 1789 come in the wake of the nation’s most serious rioting in nearly 20 years, following the fatal police shooting of a teen with North African roots that laid bare anger over entrenched inequality and racial discrimination.

India is the guest of honor at this year’s Bastille Day parade, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to watch in the VIP tribune alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. About 240 Indian troops will lead the march down the Champs-Elysees before thousands of French forces, and French-made Indian warplanes will join the traditional flyby that wraps up the event.

France often showcases international partners on Bastille Day, and the choice of India comes as France looks to further strengthen cooperation on fighting climate change, military sales and the strategic Indo-Pacific region. But human rights were missing from the vast agenda, despite concerns raised by European lawmakers, rights groups and others.