French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited southern France on a packed schedule on Wednesday to promote relations that Paris views as an alternative to rivals of great power, AFP reports Ta.
Macron had dinner in the picturesque south town of Cassis on Tuesday before Wednesday visited Marseille, France’s second largest city.
They began the day in honor of Indian soldiers who died in France during World War I at the Mazargian military cemetery south of Marseille.
They then launched a new Indian consulate general in Marseille. This is an event depicting a small crowd of cheering Indians.
After that, I visited CMA CGM, a global maritime freight company, and it was time for business.
Both leaders are discussing a project called the Indo-Middle East European Economic Corridor (IMEC), a railway and maritime corridor between India and Europe through the Middle East, comparable to the Belt and Road Initiative of China (1) IMEC Projet,” Macron said during his visit. “Marseille could clearly be an entry point for the entire European market.”
At the end of the French and Indian business forum, Macron had already praised IMEC as a “great catalyst” for “specific projects and investments.”
Paris also wants to sell billions of dollars worth of Lafale fighter jets to the Indian Navy.
Small modular reactor
Wednesday’s schedule included a visit to the experimental fusion facility Iter, an international project aimed at the next level of energy generation.
India and France have declared their partners to develop advanced and small modular nuclear reactors (SMRS), Reuters reported.
Such reactors can be built in factories and transported to locations where they can be assembled and installed, according to the BBC.
The French Modihaha during previous prominent events, including the 2023 traditional Bastille Day Parade and this week’s French-organized artificial intelligence (AI), is part of France.
Macron said over the weekend that its relationship with the Indian prime minister was part of France’s strategy to seek an alternative to the superpower rivalry between the US and China.
“India and France are two great powers that are very closely aligned with the desire to work with the United States and with China, but we don’t want to rely on anyone,” Macron said in French television. He spoke in. “We want to be independent.”
A former French government pastor who asked not to be identified said Macron was “right,” as “Modi, who leads the emerging power, found a balanced position among Americans, Chinese and Russians.” He told AFP he has intuition.
“The idea of acting as a bridge between the north and the south is constant in French rhetoric,” observed Bertrand Buddy, an international relations expert at the University of Science-PO.
“But this means Macron has to silence its domestic policy,” he said.
Modi is scheduled to fly to Washington later Wednesday and will meet President Donald Trump.