The tunes could not have been more symbolically apt. Almost an hour before French President Nicolas Sarkozy drove down Paris’s Champs-Elysees avenue for the National Day parade today in an open armoured vehicle, the Indian military band that had been flown in specially for the occasion was playing kadam kadam badhaye ja, the inspirational quarter march tune composed by the Indian National Army’s Captain Ram Singh in the 1930s.

About a 100 metres down what is described as one of the world’s most beautiful avenues, French military drummers launched into a symphony that didn’t seem to gel, albeit unintentionally.

But Parisians seemed more keen to hear the Indian melodies and the French drums eventually went silent. Sare jahan se achcha was played much later, as the Indian military bands and marching contingents that led the historic parade for the first time came to the end of the 2.4-km trot.

But by then they seemed to have captured the hearts of the tens of thousands of people who stood seven or eight deep and cheered the 400 Indian soldiers from the Maratha Light Infantry, the Navy and the Air Force as they marched in tribute to the sacrifices of their predecessors in the two World Wars.

Not only was history being remade as the two militaries marched together on a bright summer morning but the two countries were also firmly stepping on the accelerator to boost their geostrategic ties.

“They are very elegant and colourful,” said Eric Ange Pena, founder and publisher of champselysees.org, the official web site of the avenue. “France invites troops from countries it has a special affection for on July 14 but there have been some instances in the past when some invitations became controversial with the French people as those countries’ policies have not been popular here. But everyone here likes India.”

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