Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be felicitated by French President Emmanuel Macron when he lands in Paris on July 13 afternoon to take India-France relations to a new level.
According to reports from Paris and New Delhi, PM Modi will address a diaspora event on the first day at La Seine Musicale, a performing arts center on IIe Seguin Island in the picturesque Seine River in the western suburbs of Paris. Inaugurated in 2017, La Seine Musicale hosted American folk rock singer Bob Dylan at the 6,000-seat Grand Seine Theater where PM Modi will address the Indian diaspora on July 13. La Siene Musicale is currently hosting a Festival of India called “Namaste France”, organized by the Indian Embassy in France and the Ministry of Culture.
Afterwards, Prime Minister Modi will be hosted by President Macron for a private dinner at his official residence at the Elysee Palace. It is during this private dinner that the two leaders will discuss major global and bilateral issues, and the Bastille Day parade on the Champs Elysees in front of the French President on July 14 will be followed by formal negotiations at delegation level.
A 269-man strong contingent of the Indian Army from the Punjab Regiment and the Rajputana Rifles will take part in the parade on the ground, while a single Indian Air Force Rafale fighter will be the show with three others following in formation. INS Chennai, the Indian Navy’s indigenous guided missile destroyer, will be based at the strategic port of Brest, which hosts the French Navy’s nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). However, the big show will follow delegation-level negotiations in Paris.
President Macron will host Prime Minister Modi at the Cour Marly at the world-famous Louvre Museum for a gala dinner expected to be attended by more than 250 dignitaries. Filled with natural light and forests of ficus trees, Cour Marly has an army of sculptures made by the world’s best sculptors since the 19th century.
After the French prepared a sumptuous vegetarian spread for Prime Minister Modi at the Cour Marly, President Macron will take the Indian leader on a guided tour of the Louvre. Perhaps the two will have their photo taken with the Louvre’s most famous and most expensive painting, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, a masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance.
After touring the Louvre, the two leaders will attend a dazzling fireworks display over the Eiffel Tower from the Louvre terrace. While the bilateral ties between the two mid-level powers will reach the next stage after PM Modi’s visit, the red carpet treatment given to the Indian leader will surpass by miles any bilateral visit by an Indian PM in the past.
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