PM Modi gets warm hug from French President Emmanuel Macron upon arrival in France
New Delhi, May 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in France on Wednesday on the final leg of his three-day Europe visit, was warmly welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The two leaders hugged before they walked inside the official residence of the French President. The video Modi-Macron has now gone viral.
Modi, who arrived 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.
#WATCH Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives a warm welcome from French President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace in Paris
— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2022
(Source: DD) pic.twitter.com/D5PxknMfsK
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.
PTI