NEW DELHI: French President Emmanuel Macron is likely to arrive at Rajasthan capital Jaipur on January 25 for a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a day ahead of the 75th Republic Day celebrations for which he has been invited as the chief guest.
A 50-member delegation, including top officials and CEOs, will accompany Macron. “President Macron will receive a royal welcome upon his arrival. His bilateral meeting with PM Modi will cover various sectors that would include defence, space, energy, maritime security, education, indigenous manufacturing of defence equipment, migration and mobility and Indo-Pacific. Some announcements are expected by the end of the day and MoUs will be signed,” according to a source.
The bilateral trade between India and France in 2022-23 was $13.5 billion and this is expected to increase further as the two countries celebrate 26 years of their strategic partnership.
“A major announcement is expected in the education sector. France has been encouraging Indian students to study in their universities and to make academic studies more attractive, many courses are being offered in English. Besides, under the migration and mobility partnership, extended visas for Indian students are also likely to be issued,” the source said.
Discussions are likely to be held on the Jaitapur nuclear power plants in Maharashtra. Modi and Macron have met over four times in the last six months (during the PM’s visit to France on Bastille Day, the G20 Summit, COP 28 and the G20 Virtual Summit).
Ahead of Macron’s visit, his diplomatic advisor Emmanuel Bonne and India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met in Delhi last week, working out details for his trip to Jaipur on January 25, followed by Delhi on January 26.
Meanwhile, a French contingent is expected to take part in the parade on January 26 on Kartavya Path. A 269-member Indian contingent took part in the Bastille Day parade in France last year.
India and France raised their diplomatic relationship to Strategic Partnership in 1998. This partnership, a first for France outside the European Union, has been responsible for the comprehensive growth of the bilateral ties, officials said.
The key pillars of the partnership are in the areas of defence and security, space and civil nuclear matters. The two sides are engaged in new areas of cooperation in bilateral, trilateral and plurilateral formats such as maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region, digitalisation, cyber security and advanced computing.