President Emmanuel Macron arrived in India as the guest of honor on Thursday with a lavish palace banquet and a glittering military parade, as France eyes a lucrative deal with the world's fifth-largest economy.
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Mr Macron will receive a red carpet welcome with dinner at a 19th-century Maharaja's palace from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and be the guest of honor at a military procession filled with tanks, dance troupes, camel cavalry and fighter jets. It's planned.
India's Ministry of External Affairs said New Delhi and Paris are “strategic partners”, while the French president's office said the visit would “strengthen and deepen diplomatic and economic ties”.
Western democracies seek New Delhi as a military and economic counterweight to China, despite human rights concerns, disagreements over the Ukraine war, and close ties to Moscow, India's main military supplier. ing.
France wants to further strengthen its military contracts after India's defense ministry bought French Rafale fighter jets and Scorpene-class submarines in a multibillion-dollar deal.
Indian media reported that Macron, who will take office after US President Joe Biden failed to accept an invitation, is hopeful that France will be able to sell six EPR reactors.
“Important Partner”
Mr Modi was the guest of honor at France's annual Bastille Day celebrations last July, and Mr Macron is expected to receive a similar welcome.
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The French president, who was in India for the G20 summit in September, first headed to Jaipur, Rajasthan, where he had dinner with Prime Minister Modi at the luxury Rambagh Palace hotel.
Paris and New Delhi are collaborating on space and satellite technology, and the French delegation also includes astronaut Thomas Pesquet.
The visit also includes a stop at the 18th century Jantar Mantar astronomical observatory in Jaipur.
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On Friday, President Macron will watch a military parade in New Delhi on Republic Day, the 75th anniversary of India's constitution.
Just as Indian soldiers marched through the streets of Paris in 2023, French troops will also take part in a military show in New Delhi, with French jets roaring overhead.
Ahead of the visit, the French president's office said India is an “important partner contributing to international peace and security.”
Last year, Macron visited neighboring Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as well as a trip to the Pacific aimed at “recommitting” France to the wider Asia-Pacific region.
“There are no taboo topics.”
Rights issues will also be discussed. Journalists, activists and religious minorities have complained of harassment since Modi's Hindu nationalist government came to power in 2014, accusing them of growing religious intolerance against the country's Muslim minority. are doing.
Modi's government has been accused of suppressing independent media, and India has fallen 21 places to 180 on the rights group Reporters Without Borders' Press Freedom Index since he took office 10 years ago. 161 of the countries.
French journalist Vanessa Dougnac was told this month that she was at risk of being deported from India after more than 20 years, after authorities accused her of “malicious and critical” reporting.
The visit also came days after Prime Minister Modi inaugurated a Hindu temple. The temple was built on the site of a centuries-old mosque until it was demolished in 1992 by Hindu believers instigated by party members.
Prime Minister Modi said the temple heralds a “new era” for India, after a ceremony to rouse his supporters ahead of this year's elections and embody a victory for strong Hindu nationalist politics. Ta.
During his visit, President Macron will visit a Sufi Muslim shrine in New Delhi's Nizamuddin West district.
British Sikh groups have also asked President Macron to skip the parade or “express his concerns directly” to Prime Minister Modi following the alleged targeting of overseas Sikh separatists. . The issue sparked a major diplomatic spat with Canada last year.
“There are no taboo topics,” a French presidential adviser said ahead of the visit. “But the goal is to have respectful discussions and achieve concrete results.”
(AFP)
