Welcoming French head of state, PM Modi said: “The day terrorists attacked Paris, I decided that President Hollande should be our chief guest. We will combat terrorism together.” Hollande kickstarted his trip with a touchdown at Chandigarh which has a strong French connection - it is designed by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier. Hollande will be chief guest at Republic Day celebration this year. Hollande would be the fifth French head of state to be the chief guest at the Indian Republic Day parade.
Meanwhile, Indian and French companies signed 16 back-to-back agreements during the India-France Business Summit which brought together 25 corporate honchos from both countries. Speaking at the summit, Hollande said one of the main agendas of his visit was to foster ties between Paris and New Delhi to tackle terrorism as both were affected by the menace.
Hollande said India and France had over the years, gone beyond the strategic partnership, to work in the same direction. “I will talk about security first, because we are affected by regional crisis and also terrorism. Both countries have been hit. So together we will increase our exchanges, cooperation between services and act to reinforce our military equipment. It is part of the agenda for this trip,” he said.
The French president said the trip to India was special to him because he has been invited to celebrate the Republic Day with French troops joining the military parade. “It is the best symbol to illustrate the relations between France and India,” he added. Modi said India was the fastest growing economy in the world.
“We have the labour and the market for your (French) products,” he said. “We want to venture into defence manufacturing and France and India can do a lot together.” Earlier, Modi and Hollande met at the iconic Rock Garden, with both greeting each other with a warm hug. After attending the summit around 6 pm, the two leaders flew separately to Delhi.
Hollande has also indicated that the nearly Rs 60,000-crore Rafale jets deal is unlikely to be signed during his current visit although it is on the “right track”. He said, “The Rafale is a major project for India and France. It will pave the way for an unprecedented industrial and technological cooperation, including ‘Make in India’, for the next 40 years. Agreeing on the technicalities of this arrangement obviously takes time, but we are on the right track.”
Answering a question on Pathankot terror strike and that most of the terror attacks in India emanate from Pakistan, Hollande said, “France strongly condemns the attack on Pathankot. India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators,” adding, “India and France are confronted with similar threats: we are attacked by murderers who pretend to act on religious basis. Their real objective is to spread hate.”