AMN
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave on a 9-day visit to France, Germany and Canada this afternoon. In the first leg of his 3-nation tour, Modi will reach French capital Paris tonight. Briefing media persons, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said, investments, civil nuclear energy, infrastructure, Defence, space programme and smart city projects will dominate the Prime Minister’s agenda during his 3-day visit to France. Modi will hold talks with French President Francois Hollande tomorrow. The Prime Minister will also have round-table meeting with CEOs on infrastructure and defence separately.
France has emerged as major source of FDI for India with about 750 big French Companies already present in the country. France has also emerged as 9th largest foreign investor in India with total investment of over two billion Euros. Mr Modi will also go to Lille to pay the homage at World War-I Memorial. About ten thousand Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives in France as a part of British Army. Ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit, top business leaders from India and France will meet in Paris today. Indian Ambassador to France, Arun Singh said the deliberations of the India-France CEO Forum will be presented by the Co-chairs jointly to the President of France and India’s Prime Minister tomorrow.
In the second leg of his visit, the Prime Minister will reach the German city of Hannover on Sunday. Mr Modi will inaugurate world’s largest Hannover Trade Fair along with the German Chancellor. More than 100 Indian CEOs are attending the week-long fair, where India is the partner country. German Ambassador to India told reporters in New Delhi that five Union Ministers and three Chief Ministers will accompany the Prime Minister during his 3-day visit to Germany. The two countries will focus on cooperation in clean energy, manufacturing, skill development and cleaning of Rivers and Railways.
On the third and final leg of his visit, the Prime Minister will reach Canadian capital Ottawa on Tuesday evening. About 12 lakh people of Indian origin, the second largest Indian Diaspora, live in Canada. The Foreign Secretary said, this is the first stand alone visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Canada in more than four decades. During his three day visit, the Prime Minister will interact with Indian Diaspora in Vancouver. He will have one-to-one talks with the Canadian Prime Minister and other senior leaders. The Foreign Secretary said that India would be interested in investments from the huge Pension Fund of Canada and in energy sectors. The Prime Minister is scheduled to return to New Delhi on 18th of this month.