In addition to serving as the special guest at the annual Bastille Day Parade, PM Modi will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron to advance their country’s bilateral collaboration in a number of important areas.
“We would believe that the prime minister’s visit to France would set a new benchmark for our strategic partnership in years to come,” Kwatra was quoted as saying by PTI. “It would be both rich in substance and in form.”
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PM Modi’s visit to France
The India-France CEOs Forum has also been relaunched after five years and will convene on July 14 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ headquarters at Quai d’Orsay with 10 to 12 corporate leaders from each side. Paul Hermelin, Chairman of information technology company Capgemini SE, will lead the French side while Hari Bhartia, Co-Chairman of the Jubilant Bhartia Group, will co-chair the Indian side. The French government has also designated Hermilin as the key person for business and commerce with India. Around 200,000 people work for Capgemini in India, and a 6G lab will soon be established there. India and France’s bilateral commerce has increased by twofold since 2014 to 14 billion euros, with a favorable balance for India.
The two-day visit by Modi might see the debut of the digital payment system known as the Unified Payments Interface, or UPI, in France. This is the major project that the two nations are currently working on. By signing a contract in 2024, UPI and Singapore’s PayNow made it possible for users in either nation to conduct cross-border transactions. France will become the first nation in Europe to have UPI if the Macron administration decides to do the same with it; NPCI, the organization behind UPI, and France’s Lyra have been working on this for a year. It is expected that PM Modi will announce the connectivity from a famous Paris location if all agreements are completed on schedule.
He stated this before his trip: “I look forward to visiting President Macron and engaging in-depth conversations on advancing our venerable and tried-and-true cooperation over the coming 25 years. Since my last official visit to France in 2022, I have had the chance to meet President Macron several times, most recently in May 2024 at the G-7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
The event’s details
It should be mentioned that the traditional Bastille Day parade will feature a 269-member group from the Indian tri-services. Along with the French aircraft, three Rafale fighter jets from the IAF will participate in the flypast.
The name “Bastille Day” is a common one used in English-speaking nations to refer to France’s annual July 14 national holiday. The official name of the event is Fête nationale française (French National Celebration).
Since 1880, the French military parade known as the Bastille Day parade has been staged in the morning in Paris.
PM Modi’s schedule in France
The prime minister will arrive in Paris at around 4 p.m. (Indian Standard Time), where he will be formally welcomed.
At around 7 p.m. (Indian Standard Time), he will visit the Senate, where he will meet with Senate President Gérard Larcher.
At about 8 p.m. (Indian Standard Time), he will meet with French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
At about 11 p.m. (IST), PM Modi will give the next speech at a gathering of the Indian community at the venerable La Seine Musicale.
After that, PM Modi will arrive at the Elysee Palace about 00:30 (IST) for a private dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.
PM Modi’s visit to the UAE on his way back
On July 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Abu Dhabi where he will meet with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, to discuss advancing bilateral ties in the crucial fields of defense, energy, and food security.
“The India-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership has been steadily strengthening and the Prime Minister’s visit will be an opportunity to identify ways to take this forward in various domains such as energy, education, healthcare, food security, fintech, defence and culture,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
