PM Modi meets French counterpart Edouard Philippe, discusses ways to strengthen ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met his French counterpart Edouard Philippe and had a "good discussion" on ways to boost bilateral strategic ties ahead of President Emmanuel Macron's first visit to India next month.

Modi met Philippe on the sidelines of the World Government Summit here. "The two leaders had a good discussion on strengthening our strategic partnership. Modi said that he was looking forward to the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to India next month," External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

There has been a significant progress in Indo-French cooperation through regular high-level exchanges and growing commercial exchanges, including in strategic areas such as defence, nuclear energy and space.

Last year, Modi visited France soon after Macron assumed office. Modi also met Kyrgyz Prime Minister Sapar Isakov here and the two leaders shared their views on bilateral and regional issues, Kumar said.

Modi earlier today met UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation in trade, defence and people-to-people contacts.

Modi also met business leaders from Gulf Cooperation Council countries and shared his vision of "new India" with them.

"Taking India story to the business leaders! Prime Minister Modi painted the vision of a new India and shared the ease of doing business in India with the business leaders from Gulf Cooperation Council countries," Kumar said in another tweet.

"He spoke at length about the economic opportunities in India and the series of reforms undertaken in the last 3.5 years," the Prime Minister Office said in tweet.

On Saturday, Modi arrived in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, and held wide-ranging talks with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the two sides signed five agreements, including a historic pact awarding a consortium of Indian oil companies a 10 per cent stake in offshore oil concession.

Modi is visiting the United Arab Emirates for the second time after his 2015 trip to the Gulf country.

PTI