NEW DELHI:  French President Emmanuel Macron who arrived here on Friday on his maiden visit to India after becoming President was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the airport.  

The French President is visiting India on the invitation of Prime Minister Modi who broke the protocol and drove to the airport to receive him. He will be in the country on a four-day visit. He is accompanied by his wife Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron and a business delegation as well as government officials. 

“The visit of President Macron is aimed at strengthening the bilateral economic, political and strategic dimension of our engagement,” the Ministry of External Affairs had earlier said while announcing his visit. 

“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”, the MEA said in the statement. 

India and France will continue to enhance and cooperate in the defence, maritime, space, security, and energy-related sectors. Other crucial issues of concern to both the sides include terrorism, climate change, sustainable growth and development, infrastructure, smart urbanisation, science and technology cooperation and youth exchanges.

Mr. Modi and Mr. Macron will also co-chair  the first conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA)

 Prime Minister Modi and his French counterpart will co-chair the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) on March 11.

Formed at the initiative of Prime Minister Modi in January 2016, the ISA is an alliance of more than 121 countries. It aims at efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

The French President, accompanied by Mr. Modi, will also pay a visit to Varanasi, the holy city of India and parliamentary constituency of Mr. Modi, on March 12.