French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in India on Friday night. He was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who broke protocol and reached the Delhi airport to meet the French premier. Macron, who is on a four-day visit to India, was accompanied by his wife Brigitte Marie-Claude and senior cabinet ministers. Soon after deboarding his plane at the Air Force Station Palam in west Delhi, Macron was greeted by the Indian prime minister's trademark bear hug. Macron will be in India from March 9 to 12. He received a ceremonial reception at 9 am at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday. He then paid his respects to Mahatma Gandhi, at Raj Ghat. ALSO READ: Emmanuel Macron arrives; India, France work on renewing Rafale clause At 10 am, the French Prime Minister met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at Alliance Francaise. Macron met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House at 11.30 am. Delegation level talks took place at 12.30 pm. After the delegation-level talks, both the leaders issued a joint statement. India and France on Saturday signed 14 key pacts in a bid to enhance strategic partnership in areas of security, nuclear energy as well as protection of classified information after extensive talks between Modi and Macron. Addressing a joint media event with Macron, Modi said the two countries have robust cooperation in the fields of defence and security. On his part, Macron said India and France have decided to work together to deal with threats of terrorism and radicalisation. This was followed by an exchange of agreements and press statements at Ball Room in Hyderabad House. The CEOs forum took place at 2.30 pm. Later, in the day, Macron met President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 3.30 pm. The French President will later interact with students at 4.15 pm. At 7.30 pm, there will be a Welcome Ceremony for International Solar Alliance at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The other two days' itinerary is as follows: Sunday, March 11, 2018 0900 hrs International Solar Alliance Summit Venue: Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre (Please see separate media advisory for ISA ,2018) 1605 hrs Emplane for Agra 1715 hrs Arrive and Visit Taj Mahal 1855 hrs Emplane for Delhi Monday, March 12, 2018 0925 hrs Emplane for Varanasi 1115 hrs Inauguration of Solar Power Plant , Mirzapur Venue: Solar Power Plant ,Mirzapur (U.P) 1235 hrs Arrive & Visit Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hastkala Sankul Venue: Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hastkala Sankul (Bada Lalpur) 1330 hrs Visit to Assi Ghat and Dashashwamedh Ghat ( Varanasi) 1640 hrs Emplane for Delhi 1810 hrs Emplane
