Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday received a warm welcome from French President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace in Paris.
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"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," tweeted MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
This would reportedly be a brief visit during which PM Modi would meet Macron and discuss issues of bilateral and mutual interests with "one of India's strongest partners."
Modi, who arrived in Paris from Denmark on the final leg of his three-nation Europe tour, will hold extensive talks with President Macron, who was re-elected to the top post over a week back.
"Landed in Paris. France is one of India's strongest partners, with our nations cooperating in diverse areas," Modi tweeted soon after his arrival here.
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. Another focus area of the talks would be to unitedly deal with the challenges in the Indo-Pacific.
Modi's visit comes amid the Ukraine crisis, which has united much of Europe against Russia. It also comes a day after Macron spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Macron urged Russia 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 on Tuesday.
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.
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.
Prime Minister 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.
The meeting between the two leaders will set a more ambitious agenda for the strategic partnership, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet.
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.
This is Modi's fifth visit to France after August 2019, June 2017, November 2015 and April 2015.
(With PTI inputs)
