On the third and final day of his France visit on Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi visited the historic Mazargues Cemetery in Marseille with French President Emmanuel Macron and paid tribute to Indian soldiers who fought in World War I and World War II, many of whom are cremated there. 

Noting that freedom fighter Veer Savarkar attempted a “courageous escape” in Marseille, PM Modi wrote on X,  “In India’s quest for freedom, this city holds special significance. It was here that the great Veer Savarkar attempted a courageous escape. I also want to thank the people of Marseille and the French activists of that time who demanded that he not be handed over to British custody. The bravery of Veer Savarkar continues to inspire generations!”.

Savarkar had attempted his escape on July 8, 1910, from HMS Morea, by slipping through a porthole and swimming ashore. He was captured by French authorities and handed back to officials on the ship. 

PM Modi also inaugurated the Indian Consulate in Marseille and said that it will deepen ties between the two countries. “President Macron and I reached Marseille a short while ago. This visit will witness important programmes aimed at further connecting India and France. The Indian consulate which is being inaugurated will deepen people-to-people linkages. I will also pay homage to the Indian soldiers martyred in the First and Second World Wars,” the PM wrote earlier in the day.

Prime Minister Modi received a warm welcome from the Indian diaspora at a hotel in Marseille. “We have been staying here for the past 4 years…I met PM Modi now…he was very happy to meet us and we also felt really happy,” Priyanka Sharma, a member of the diaspora, told news agency ANI.

Apart from visiting a logistics centre, PM Modi and Mr Macron will also take a tour of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project in Cadarache in southern France. India has committed Rs 17,500 crore, which is about 10% of the project’s cost. India has also contributed the biggest component in the project – the world’s largest refrigerator that houses this unique reactor.

Washington:

The US Army on Thursday took aim at Donald Trump’s staff over a visit by the Republican presidential candidate to the country’s most hallowed resting place for its war dead.

The incident has mushroomed into an uncharacteristically public dispute between the military and a former US commander in chief, with Trump lashing out and accusing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of having “killed” American soldiers through “gross incompetence” in Afghanistan.

Trump went to Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington with family members of some of the 13 service members killed in a 2021 bombing during the last hours of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

His campaign posted photos from the visit, including one showing him giving a thumbs-up gesture while standing with relatives at the grave of one of the US Marines killed.

The Army said an Arlington employee was “abruptly pushed aside” when she sought to ensure a law prohibiting political activity on cemetery grounds was followed.

“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the (Arlington National Cemetery) employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked,” an Army spokesperson said in a statement.

Going on the offensive, Trump’s campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita has described the employee as a “despicable individual,” while campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said she was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode.”

Doubling down, LaCivita later reposted video of Trump’s presence at Arlington and said he hoped it would “trigger the hacks” at the US Army secretary’s office.

Trump has made criticism of Biden’s handling of the retreat from Afghanistan a key note of his campaign ahead of November’s election.

The US withdrawal was made as part of a peace deal signed by the Trump administration with the Taliban.

At a Thursday rally in Michigan, Trump defended his gravesite visit and savaged Biden and Harris, his 2024 White House rival, over Afghanistan.

“They asked me to go yesterday to Arlington and I did,” Trump said of the families, adding that “bad people” accused him of inappropriate political activity.

“Joe Biden killed their children, by incompetence… Kamala killed their children — just as though they had a gun in their hand — by gross incompetence,” Trump told supporters.

“Not one general or incompetent bureaucrat was fired,” over the deadly pullout, he added. “And then they accuse me of having a picture taken at the tombstone with the family.”  

Uproar over the incident at Arlington on Monday is the latest controversy in Trump’s troubled relationship with the military.

While often touting his support for the armed forces, he privately mocked the war dead while he was president and did not want to be seen near military amputees, according to his former chief of staff.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)