PM Modi to depart for France, UAE visit tomorrow: Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra

New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave for his France, UAE visit on Thursday.

The Prime Minister will first visit France from July 13-14 at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi will depart tomorrow morning for his visits to France and UAE. The first segment will be his visit to France, the PM will reach Paris tomorrow. The PM will stay in France on July 13, 14 at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron,” Kwatra said during a special briefing on Prime Minister’s visit to France and UAE.

The foreign secretary said the visit comes as PM Modi’s sixth visit to France. “After PM Modi reaches tomorrow, he will meet France Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne and President of French Senate Gérard Larcher on the same day,” he said. Kwatra said on Thursday evening, the prime minister will interact with the Indian community which would be followed by a private dinner to be hosted by President Macron at Élysée Palace in honour of the prime minister.

The visit’s major ceremonial part will start on Friday wherein the Prime Minister will participate in Bastille Day celebrations. “Major ceremonial part of the visit will start on July 14. PM Modi will participate in the French National Day celebration- Bastille Day. This is a very special gesture extended by France to PM Modi. A large tri-services contingent from India will also participate in the Bastille Day Parade along with three Indian Air Force aircraft, which would also take part in the flypast after the Bastille Day celebrations,” the foreign secretary said.

“Program on the fourteenth also includes meeting with the President of the French National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet and a series of other meetings with the thought leaders and prominent business people. There is going to be another ceremonial reception at the Lisa Palace on the fourteenth,” he said.
This will be “followed by delegation-level discussions led by Prime Minister Modi and French President Macron. The two leaders will also interact with the CEOs from both countries under the rubric of the India-France CEO forum. Then the program in France would conclude with a state banquet to be hosted in honour of the Prime Minister in the evening of July 14 at the iconic Louvre Museum,” he said.

The Foreign Secretary said India and France have a long-standing strategic partnership which captures a series of strategic convergences that both countries have on a range of issues. “This year marks the 25th anniversary of our strategic partnership. There are several pillars of our strategic partnership,” he said.
“The visit of the Prime Minister to France would be both rich in substance and also in form and we would think, we believe that it would set new benchmarks for our strategic partnership in years ahead,” Kwatra said.

The foreign secretary further said: “After concluding his visit to France, the Prime Minister would depart for UAE and reach there on July 15 where he will meet the President of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to be followed by a ceremonial welcome by little talks and other events organized in honour of prime minister's visit to UAE.” PM Modi will be the Guest of Honour at the Bastille Day Parade of France on July 14, where the tri-services of the Indian armed forces contingent would be participating.

French National Day, or Bastille Day, occupies a special place in French consciousness. This day commemorates the Storming of the Bastille Prison in 1789 during the French Revolution. The Bastille Day Parade is the highlight of the Bastille Day Celebrations.

However, it is uncommon for foreign politicians to be invited as the Guest of Honour for Bastille Day (the previous time was in 2017 when the US President (Donald Trump at that time) was given the invitation). Participation by foreign marching bands and aircraft is even more unusual.