French President Macron to visit Varanasi along with PM Modi on March 12

NewsBharati    07-Mar-2018
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New Delhi, March 7: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that French President Emmanuel Macron along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi will tour Varanasi on March 12th.

"The visit of President Macron is aimed at strengthening the bilateral economic, political and strategic dimension of our engagement," the MEA said, adding that both the leaders of India and France will preside over in the International Solar Alliance (ISA) conference, slated to be held on March 11th.

"The strategic partnership between India and France, established in 1998, is one of the most important and comprehensive bilateral engagements and is marked by intense and frequent high-level exchanges and deep political understanding", it added.

Macron will embark on a four-day visit to India from March 9 to 12 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He will be accompanied by his wife, Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron, and a delegation of businessmen and ministry officials.

The ISA, an alliance of more than 121 countries, was initiated by Prime Minister Modi in January 2016. The primary objective of the alliance is to work for efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

The last visit of the French President to India was in January 2016, when Macron was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations. Prime Minister Modi had last visited France in June last year.

PM Modi Emmanuel Macron French President Visit Varanasi MEA International Solar Alliance ISA