Paris, February 12. A unique aspect of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to France is the time and respect given to him by President Emmanuel Macron. This reflects the better mutual understanding and deep friendship of the two leaders.
On the first day of PM Modi’s visit, the two leaders interacted at a dinner hosted by President Macron. This cordial atmosphere continued at the ‘AI Action Summit’ the next day as well. India and France jointly hosted the summit.
Reflecting their close ties, the two leaders hosted the India-France CEO Forum, which reflects their shared vision for economic cooperation.
In an extraordinary sign of friendship, the two leaders arrived in Marseille in a joint convoy and on the same plane. President Macron hosted a dinner for Prime Minister Modi in Marseille.
Though all world leaders showed respect and importance to PM Modi, the closeness and affinity shown by Macron is rare to find another example.
Macron was actually very excited about PM Modi’s visit. In an interview given to a website before Prime Minister Modi’s arrival in Paris, President Macron said that he and Prime Minister Modi will strive for ‘technological sovereignty’.
The French President said, “Like Prime Minister Modi, we also strongly believe that India and France are two great powers and we have a special relationship. We respect America and want to work with it, we also want to work with China, but do not want to be dependent on anyone.”
Macron said, “India and France are leading but America and China are far ahead of us. We want to work together on AI. PM Modi also wants to take advantage of new technology. But he wants it to happen in India as well.’
