New Delhi:
French President Emmanuel Macron, Chief Guest for the Republic Day parade this year, is visiting the Amer Fort near Jaipur. Mr Macron, who landed in Jaipur this afternoon and was welcomed by foreign minister S Jaishankar, has a packed schedule today.
Mr Macron will soon be joined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Jantar Mantar and the two leaders would hold a roadshow that will include a brief stopover at Hawa Mahal, another UNESCO Heritage Site.
PM Modi has already landed in Jaipur and his motorcade is proceeding towards the Jantar Mantar.
At Hawa Mahal, Mr Macron and PM Modi will have Jaipur's special masala chai. They may also pick up handicraft items like blue pottery and the famous inlay work, for which they will pay with BHIM UPI, sources said. Handicraft kiosks have been set up adjacent to the Hawa Mahal for the dignitaries to browse.
A private dinner for Mr Macron has also been planned at the Rambaug Palace, after which the leaders will take a flight to Delhi.
The dinner will be preceded by wide-ranging talks between the two leaders, which is likely to include maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, the situation in the Red Sea, Hamas-Israel conflict and the war in Ukraine.
The visit comes amid India-France negotiations over French fighter jets and submarines. It is expected that India's proposed procurement of 26 Rafale fighter jets and the three Scorpion submarines would also figure in the bilateral talks between the two leaders.
On Friday, Macron will witness the Republic Day celebrations as the Chief Guest. He would be the sixth leader from France to grace the prestigious annual extravaganza.
The Foreign Ministry has said that New Delhi and Paris are "strategic partners". The trip will "consolidate and deepen diplomatic and economic relations," said the French Presidency.
France is India's second-largest arms supplier, and has been one of its oldest and closest partners in Europe for decades. It was the only Western nation that did not impose sanctions on New Delhi after India conducted nuclear tests in 1998.
President Macron had accepted the last-minute invite for the Republic Day celebration after US President Joe Biden conveyed his inability to do so. France's gesture is being read as a mark of strength of its bilateral relations with New Delhi. PM Modi was the Guest of Honour at France's Bastille Day celebrations in July last year.
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