New Delhi, Feb 7 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to France to co-chair the AI Action Summit next week also includes a significant bilateral component, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) revealed on Friday, to bolster a strategic partnership that Paris believes has been resilient in the darkest storms and bold and ambitious in riding the high tides of opportunities.
PM Modi will be in France from February 10 to 12 to co-chair an Artificial Intelligence summit alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.
"The Prime Minister will arrive in Paris on the evening of February 10. He will attend a dinner that is being hosted by President Macron at the Elysee Palace in honour of the visiting heads of government and heads of State. The dinner is also likely to be attended by a large number of CEOs from the tech domain and a number of other distinguished invitees to the summit," Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri briefed the media ahead of the significant visit.
On February 11, the Prime Minister will co-chair the third edition of the AI Action Summit which was earlier hosted by the United Kingdom (2023) and South Korea (2024).
A major bilateral component is also attached to the visit following the high-level gathering in Paris.
Both leaders had last met in November on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro - their third meeting in 2024 after President Macron's visit to India as the Chief Guest for the Republic Day celebrations in January and their meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy in June.
Misri revealed that PM Modi and President Macron will address the India-France CEOs Forum and hold discussions, in both restricted and delegation-level formats.
"This visit will also take PM Modi outside Paris as he will travel to Marseille with President Macron on the evening of February 11. That evening, President Macron will host a dinner in honour of Prime Minister. On the morning of February 12, the two leaders will visit the Mazargues War Cemetery, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, to pay tribute to Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives during World War I. Additionally, PM Modi and President Macron will jointly inaugurate the newest Consulate General of India in Marseille," the Foreign Secretary mentioned.
The opening of the new Consulate General, announced by PM Modi during his 2023 France visit, is expected to not only enhance people-to-people ties between India and France but also strengthen commercial relations in the South of France as Marseille is located at the crossroads of global shipping routes and positioned as the natural gateway to Southern Europe.
India's partnership with France has remained steady even in times of recent continuous global turbulence and challenges.
PM Modi and President Macron have laid out a detailed vision, looking ahead to 2047 and beyond while building a secure and peaceful Indo-Pacific region and addressing global challenges of climate change, clean energy, health, food security, poverty and development.
