PM Modi meets French President Macron; discusses regional & global developments

Agency

Paris: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met French President Emmanuel Macron here on Wednesday and discussed issues of bilateral and mutual interests as well as regional and global developments, amid Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
“PM @narendramodi and President @Emmanuel Macron meet in Paris. This meeting will add momentum to the India-France friendship,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted along with a photograph of Modi and Macron hugging each other.
Macron held a tete-a-tete with Modi before the delegation-level talks at the Elysee Palace – the official residence of the French President.
“A meeting between two friends. An opportunity to translate the renewed mandate of President @EmmanuelMacron into a renewed momentum for the India-France Strategic partnership,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.
Modi, who arrived here from Denmark on the final leg of his three-nation Europe tour, will hold extensive talks with Macron, who was re-elected to the top post over a week back.
His visit comes amid the Ukraine crisis, which has united much of Europe against Russia. The two leaders are also expected to discuss how to ensure cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and mitigate the global economic consequences of this conflict.
On Tuesday, Macron spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and urged Moscow to rise to the level of its responsibility as a permanent member of the US Security Council by ending this devastating aggression, an Elysee statement said.
The Ukraine issue also figured prominently at the second India-Nordic summit attended by Prime Minister Modi and his counterparts from Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark in Copenhagen on Wednesday.
Modi has said that India believes no country would emerge victorious in the Russia-Ukraine war as all will suffer losses and there will be a “more serious” impact on developing and poor countries.
Another focus area of the talks would be to unitedly deal with the challenges in the Indo-Pacific, amid China flexing muscles in the region. Soon after his arrival here, Modi in a tweet described France as one of India’s strongest partners, with both countries cooperating in diverse areas.
Diplomatic sources said Modi’s meeting with Macron days after his election victory is highly symbolic. It sends a powerful signal that the two leaders want to make the Indo-French partnership a guiding principle of their foreign policy for the years to come, they said.
It’s also a demonstration of the level of personal chemistry between the two leaders, which gives impetus to our joint actions across all fields of cooperation, they said.
Modi will be among the first few world leaders to meet President Macron after his re-election last week. He had congratulated Macron after his re-election. “I look forward to continue working together to deepen the India-French Strategic Partnership,” Modi had tweeted. His visit comes during the French presidency of the European Union. It also coincides with the 75 years of diplomatic relations between India and France.