Chandigarh was designed by legendary French architect Le Corbusier
'Bienvenue' or 'welcome', say the boards put up along the road to Chandigarh's Capitol complex and the Rock Garden. These are two of venues that will welcome French President François Hollande when he lands in Chandigarh this afternoon on a three-day visit to India.
The French President is the chief guest for India's 67th Republic Day celebration and has chosen 'the City Beautiful' Chandigarh that enjoys an interesting French connection as his first stop.
Chandigarh was designed by legendary French architect Le Corbusier after India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Nehru asked him to build the city as an example of a modern planned city.
Some of Chandigarh's most famous landmarks, like the Secretariat, the High Court are part of the Capitol complex as is the 'open hand' structure, that's synonymous with the city.
Later this afternoon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Hollande will address a CEO summit in the city that will be attended by Indian and French head honchos, including representatives from Dassault Aviation, L'Oréal, Thales, Michelin and Solairedirect.
Memorandum of understanding (MoUs) related to smart cities is expected to be signed here for cities like Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry.
All eyes are on the Rafale jet deal that was announced last year for direct purchase of 36 fighter jets from the French company but has subsequently not made much progress.
"The multi-billion dollar Rafale jet deal is on "right track" but technicalities take time," news agency PTI quoted Hollande as saying today.
Besides the Rafale deal, also high on the agenda will be counter-terrorism cooperation following the horrendous attack in Paris and the recent terrorist attack in the Pathankot air base in Punjab.
"India and France are united in their determination to act together against terrorism," said President Hollande, adding that "India is fully justified to ask for justice against perpetrators," when asked on India's demand for action by Pakistan in Pathankot terror attack.