March 12, 2018
President Macron’s first state visit to India comes on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the strategic partnership between between the two countries.
The countries have agreed to hold biennial summits between the Indian Prime Minister and the French President to further strengthen bilateral relations.
Agreements signed between the nation covered defence and security, civil nuclear energy, space research, higher education; skill development and climate change.
During his stay, President Macron and PM Narendra Modi jointly hosted the inaugural summit of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) on March 11th.
India-France relation has received a fresh boost with the state visit of President Emmanuel Macron. Besides reaffirming cooperation in wide-ranging bilateral and international issues, the three-day visit, spanning over March 10-12, led to the countries signing a number of crucial deals. President Macron’s first state visit to India comes on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the strategic partnership between between the two countries. The countries have agreed to hold biennial summits between the Indian Prime Minister and the French President to further strengthen bilateral relations. The countries have also agreed to establish an annual defence dialogue at the ministerial level to boost ties.
Agreements signed between the nation covered – enhanced cooperation in maritime security; defence and security cooperation and logistics; civil nuclear energy; space research; manufacturing; higher education; skill development; smart cities; railway infrastructure; climate change and e-vehicles. In 2016, India had reached an agreement to acquire 36 Rafale fighter jets from France for about US$8.9 billion. During his visit, President Macron pitched for the sale of an additional 36 Rafale jets to India. Trade between the nations was recorded at US$11 billion in 2016-17. France is the ninth largest foreign investor in India with cumulative investment of US$6.2 billion from April 2000 to December 2017.
During his stay, President Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi jointly hosted the inaugural summit of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) on March 11th. The platform brings together more than 120 partner nations to promote development of solar energy projects worldwide. The meeting was attended by 23 heads of states and 10 ministerial delegations. The leaders underlined their commitment to ISA’s projects and programmes and to mobilize affordable financing for solar energy deployment, especially in developing nations. The ISA aims to mobilise investment of over US$1 trillion from public and private sources to help it instal more than 1,000 GW of solar generation capacity worldwide by 2030.