Photos: France celebrates Bastille Day with parade, tribute to India

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.

Students of the Ecole Polytechnique Military School. | The annual festivities, which mark the storming of the Bastille prison at the start of the French Revolution in 1789, kicked off with a traditional military parade in the morning that saw over 5,000 people sweep down the Champs Elysees.

India is the guest of honor at this year’s Bastille Day parade, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi watching in the VIP tribune alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.

Punjab Regiment soldiers. | About 240 Indian troops 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.

Celebrations are held in towns and cities around France on Bastille Day, meant to celebrate France’s ideals of 'liberty, equality and fraternity.'

Indian Army Rajputana Rifles Band.

Pupils of the National Gendarmerie Officers' Academy.

The '132e Regiment d’infanterie cynotechnique'

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, France's President Emmanuel Macron and first lady Brigitte Macron look at Paris Fire Brigade marching during the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris.

Pupils of the Combined Arms School.

Indian Navy and Air Force troops.