Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday jointly inaugurated India's new consulate in France's Marseille city. The two leaders jointly inaugurated India's new consulate in Marseille with the press of a button amid cheers from the gathered crowd.
Many of these people had come bearing national flags of both India and France, while some sported a tricolour headgear, adding colour to the occasion.
Prior to the inauguration, they visited the historic Mazargues Cemetery in Marseille, Paris, to pay tribute to Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the Great War. The two leaders also interacted with a section of the people in the crowd.
During the solemn ceremony, Modi laid a wreath featuring tricolour-themed flowers at the war cemetery, which is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) and commemorates numerous Indian soldiers.
Modi, currently on a three-day visit to France, co-chaired the AI Action Summit with Macron on Tuesday and addressed business leaders. He arrived in Paris on February 10. The First World War, also known as the Great War, took place between 1914-18, while the Second World War occurred between 1939-45.
According to the CWGC website, "There are now 1,487, 1914-18 and 267, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. 205 of the Indian casualties, who were cremated, are commemorated on a memorial at the rear of the cemetery." The Mazargues Indian Memorial was unveiled by Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood in July 1925.
Additionally, a stone tablet on the cemetery's left-hand wall commemorates eight members of the Egyptian Labour Corps whose graves were lost after being initially buried in Le Canet New Communal Cemetery. The Mazargues Cemetery spans an area of 9,021 square meters, as per CWGC records. (With PTI Inputs)
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